The name of the protocol is actually the Eurocity Vila Real Santo Antonio – Ayamonte protocol, and it binds traders on either sides of the river to help each other, and it has managed to raise the expectations of business and shop owners in both regions.

The protocol between the municipalities of Ayamonte and Vila Real de Santo Antonio was signed last month with the backing of the Algarve Committee for Regional Coordination and Development, and is seen by marketers of both nationalities as one way of overcoming the economic crisis.

The main objectives of the Eurocity protocol are to strengthen cross-border cooperation, to share equipment and to define a joint development strategy.

Shop and business owners in both towns seem to be a bit more optimistic about their future with the protocol having been signed, feelings that really weren’t possible before.

The power of both territories concentrating their efforts behind a common goal of attracting visitors to the ‘eurocity’ has people talking, with traders highlighting that this joint promotion of both municipalities can be very beneficial from the tourism point of view.

According to at least one establishment owner, the two cities share a lot of history, and in recent times they’ve turned their back on each other, but now with the protocol having been signed, there’s a definite change in the air, there’s renewed hope when there was none before.

We can only wait and see what happens in the future at the border between the two countries and regions.