About XNUMX vehicles crossed the land border of Castro Marim, in the Algarve, in the first two days after the discontinuation and reopening of road links between Portugal and Spain, police sources told Lusa.
Next to the Guadiana International Bridge, in the connection between the two countries, there is no longer any control of vehicles and people and the crossing is made without any restrictions, both to Spain and Portugal.
“Today [Sunday] road traffic has been much higher than on Saturday, namely with the movement of Spanish citizens to Portugal, and it is estimated that the number of vehicles may exceed five thousand,” elements of the Portuguese and Spanish authorities told Lusa .
According to the elements of inspection at the Castro Marim border, in the district of Faro, “the road traffic this morning was around 120 cars per minute, a number higher than that recorded on Saturday and much higher than that of the first few days when the first deconfinement took place”.
“With the reopening of the borders, control is no longer carried out, but there are many Spanish and Portuguese citizens who call us asking if there are any restrictions on passage”, said a police source.
In the city of Vila Real de Santo António, in the Algarve, hundreds of Spaniards took advantage of the weekend to have lunch and shop in Portugal, indicating to Lusa's report that “the tour is at the same time a way of celebrating the end of the period of captivity".
“We needed to go out and enjoy the outdoors, as we were in captivity for a long time,” said Cristina Tejedor, while enjoying a meal with her family of four on the terrace of a restaurant in Vila Real de Santo António.
The Spanish citizen said that she had been waiting for a long time to open the borders between Portugal and Spain, "because in Portugal it feels safer than in Spain".
“The Portuguese are more disciplined, comply with safety rules and wear a mask, which is not the case in most Spanish cities”, he pointed out.
Cristina Tejedor added that many Spaniards “have the habit of going to Portugal on weekends, to enjoy Portuguese cuisine and, on the other hand, buy textiles that they cannot find in Spain”.
For the merchants of Vila Real de Santo António, the reopening of the borders “is a balloon of oxygen in the economy, helping to save many businesses” in the border city.
“We need the Spaniards, our best customers and since yesterday [Saturday] there has been a great influx and a great movement in the stores and restaurants of our brothers”, he told Lusa Manuela Romeira, a merchant of regional dry products from the Algarve, with a commercial space in the center of the Pombaline city.
For his part, André Costa, catering entrepreneur, pointed out “the return of Spanish visitors, like a breath of fresh air, in a crisis that it is not known how long it will take”.
“In these two days we have had a high occupation, with around 50% of Spaniards. The future is still very uncertain, but the reopening of borders gives us hope and motivation to work, waiting for the situation to return to possible normality”, stressed the businessman, believing that “summer can save the tourist year”.
Lígia Oliveira, a textile trader, also welcomed the reopening of the borders, which “is being accompanied by the expectation of the resumption of business” in these first two days after the conflict between the two countries.
“It is a joy for all of us to see the city center with a great movement of Spaniards, our main customers throughout the year. Between Saturday and today, what was billed already gives us some encouragement to continue”, he concluded.
According to police at the border between the two countries, road traffic on May 1 this year has almost tripled compared to last year, when traffic between the two countries was limited.
Elements of the border authorities told Lusa that road traffic “is even less than expected, because many Portuguese and Spanish citizens are still unaware of how the reopening of circulation takes place”.
“There may be some confusion that, we believe, may be related to the first deconfinement, in which it was deconfined but the borders remained closed with exceptions. At that time, there were many people who were forced to turn back,” said a police source.
According to the same source, in a single day “more than 70 people and also 'TIR' trucks full of goods were prevented from entering Portugal, because some truck drivers were accompanied by women, a situation not covered by the exceptions for circulation arising from the government decree”.
The border authorities of the two countries estimate that road traffic may intensify at the end of Sunday, namely with the return home of thousands of Spaniards who traveled to Portugal over the weekend.
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