Despite the geographical proximity between the two countries, communications—or rather the lack thereof—have always made the distances between Spain and Portugal seem greater, something that is about to change with the construction of an international bridge over the Sever River: an infrastructure that will link Montalvão (in the municipality of Nisa) with Cedillo (in the province of Extremadura).
This construction—which, as the Nisa Municipal Council points out, is a project that has been demanded for a long time by the populations on both sides of the border—will strengthen the connection between Extremadura and the Portuguese Alto Alentejo with this new direct link, “reducing distances by about 100 km.”
The company in charge of the construction of this international bridge is Alexandre Barbosa Borges, S.A., which submitted the most economical and environmentally sustainable proposal. A determining factor in the latter was the inclusion of two twin concrete arches, supported by foundation blocks, thus avoiding the need to place pillars in the regular riverbed.
The bridge will be 160 meters long and will have a 11.5-meter-wide deck with two lanes, hard shoulders, and sidewalks. According to the Portuguese administration, it will also have “a distinctive touch and will reflect the Portuguese character of the infrastructure.”
The project has a total investment of €24 million, of which just over €5 million is being provided by the Regional Government of Extremadura and the other €19 million by the Portuguese side – twelve million of which, incidentally, is being financed by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).
The Madrid-Lisbon AVE
The future bridge is not the only new connection that will link Portugal and Spain: another long-standing demand has been for a high-speed train between Madrid and Lisbon, and after decades of delays, an AVE high-speed train is expected to link the two capitals in two hours by 2034.