Porto, Portugal, June 23, 2025 (Lusa) - The Mayor of Porto on Monday argued that northern Portugal and Spain's Galicia region should continue to "jointly raise awareness" among the Portuguese and Spanish governments about the strategic importance of high-speed rail between Porto and Vigo.

Rui Moreira considered that the demands of the Euroregion “are certainly more audible and more convincing when speaking with one voice”.

The independent mayor of Porto today handed over the Keys to the City to the President of the Galician Regional Government, Alfonso Rueda, at a ceremony held in the Noble Hall of the city council.

According to Rui Moreira, this high-speed connection project is of strategic importance that “goes beyond the regional scope and circumstances of the Euroregion”.

“This railway project also has knock-on effects and positive externalities, both for the two countries as a whole and for the European Union itself”, he said.

The Porto mayor therefore stressed that “the Porto-Vigo high-speed line should be seen as a regional project, but also a national and European one”.

In his view, high speed rail transport will transform mobility in the Atlantic Axis, making it more “efficient and sustainable”.

“The immediate effect of this mobility will be regional and territorial cohesion, which in turn will result in more opportunities for economic cooperation, business investment and trade relations,” he added.

It will also result in “more opportunities for tourist flows, labour mobility and logistics supply, more opportunities for social, cultural and academic relations and more opportunities for the exchange of talent, technology and innovation,” he said.

“In short, high speed rail is a critical factor for regional development, capable of boosting the competitiveness of companies, the well-being of the general public and the quality of the environment,” stressed Rui Moreira.

The president of the Galician Regional Government stated that “we cannot wait any longer” and that the Euroregion “needs and deserves a modern train, a fast train, an efficient train that will multiply opportunities”.

At the end of February, the Minister of Infrastructure, Miguel Pinto Luz, said that the high-speed rail link between Porto and Vigo will be completed in 2032, giving northern Portugal and Galicia “a unique geostrategic position”.

“Porto-Vigo [by high speed] is not a study. It is a reality. We are going to make the investment and we are going to complete it in 2032. And we believe that Spain will then have completed the investment on the Spanish side,” said Minister Miguel Pinto Luz in Vigo, where he participated in the meeting “Conectando el Noroeste” (Connecting the Northwest), promoted by the Pontevedra Business Confederation, which was also attended by the president of the Galician Regional Government, Alfonso Rueda Valenzuela.

As for the deadlines for the Porto-Vigo high-speed line, the minister explained that the Braga-Valença and Campanhã-Aeroporto (Porto) links will be completed in 2032, which will enable the connection between Porto and the border at Valença.

The Porto-Vigo link will provide a new connection to Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport and a Braga-Valença section (Viana do Castelo district).

Today, Alfonso Rueda also argued that “realistic deadlines that can be met” should be set.

“Of course, from Galicia, we are in time to exert all the influence” necessary to bring this project to fruition, said the Galician mayor, who also drew attention to other specific projects between the two regions, namely that relating to the status of cross-border workers.

According to Rueda, there are around “14,000 workers”, Galician and Portuguese, who “create economy in the border groups, who create wealth across the border”, but who continue to face “bureaucratic and administrative obstacles”.

Regarding the presentation of the Keys to the City of Porto to the Galician mayor, Rui Moreira said that it is more than a symbolic moment: "it translates into new opportunities for cross-border relations".

According to information available on the Porto city council website, the Keys to the City represent a high municipal award to distinguish personalities who, through their prestige and actions, have raised the name of the city and the country to the highest international levels.

PM/AYLS // AYLS

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