Madrid, May 26, 2026 (Lusa) – The Guarda Dry Port (inland terminal connecting to seaports), managed by the Port Authority of Douro, Leixões and Viana do Castelo (APDL), will be "ready to operate" this summer, Guarda Mayor Sergio Costa announced on Tuesday.
"We estimate that the construction work could be ready in August this year to start its operation under the responsibility of the Port of Leixões, opening a new opportunity for companies in Guarda and across the entire central and northern region of the country," he told journalists in Madrid.
He said that "the work is progressing at a fast pace" following its award for €3.7 million by APDL a year ago, on 15 May 2025.
"It was important for the Guarda Dry Port to start operating as quickly as possible, which is why we, along with the Port of Leixões, took advantage of an existing space that was expanded by about 4 hectares," he said.
This represents the first phase of the project to launch operations, followed by a second phase that will add around 35 hectares, an expansion already included in the city's Municipal Master Plan (PDM).
The facility aims to operate "side by side" with the 100-hectare Guarda logistics platform at the railway terminal.
Guarda's recently approved PDM also plans an expansion of the city's "business areas" to 1,000 hectares surrounding the Dry Port and the logistics platform, the mayor said, highlighting the growth potential of the logistics sector in a city where the A23 and A25 motorways intersect with the Beira Alta and Beira Baixa railway lines, offering close connections to Spain.
He travelled to Madrid on Tuesday to participate in an event organised by the Spanish news agency EFE on "EFE Dialogues. Salamanca - Guarda: The new logistics centre of the Atlantic", which featured the mayor of the Spanish city, Carlos García Carbayo.
Salamanca constructed its own dry port in parallel with the Guarda project. The facility required an investment of nearly €34 million, has been operating since the beginning of the year, and holds cooperation protocols with the Port of Leixões.
Sérgio Costa and Carlos García Carbayo said that the two infrastructures are complementary rather than competing. They said that cross-border development must be shared and promoted jointly.
They agreed on the importance of improving and increasing rail links between the two countries in this region, considering these links essential to fully leverage investments such as the dry ports and other projects in areas historically sidelined by central governments.
Both leaders requested the electrification of the existing railway line, which remains uncompleted on the Spanish side.
"We are six or seven years behind schedule on the Spanish section. Works are already underway in the city [of Salamanca], but we hope that by the end of the year, deadlines can begin to be met," Carbayo said.
The two mayors welcomed Portugal's commitment to making the Aveiro-Vilar Formoso high-speed rail link the next priority, following the line connecting Lisbon, Porto, and Vigo.
Spain's government "has not commented" on the matter, Carbayo said.
APDL has argued that the Guarda Dry Port is "fundamental to strengthening the efficiency of the cargo connection to the Atlantic maritime ports and Spain via rail."
"Its efficient integration with maritime ports, rail and road operators, as well as information and control systems, is fundamental to the competitiveness of the sector," it said.
The cabinet meeting granted the Guarda project the status of the country's first Dry Port in December 2021.
The decree-law transferring the management of the Guarda rail freight terminal to APDL, published in March 2022, stated that the objective is to transform the city "into a fundamental logistical anchor in the country's interior", strengthening the cargo connection to Atlantic ports and Spain via the railway.
MP/RYOL // ADB.
Lusa
