SPAIN and Portugal will be connected by a high-speed train by 2032, according to Portugal’s infrastructure minister.
The high-speed line will link the popular Portuguese destination of Porto and the Galician port city, Vigo.
Miguel Pinto Luz, Portuguese Minister for Infrastructure confirmed the plans this week at an event in Vigo.
He says both Portuguese and Spanish authorities are aiming to finish the project within seven years.
“It will have a unique geostrategic position. We’ll have a new macro-region that will lead the economy,” Pinto Luz said.
“We don’t think that the country is just Lisbon. We see Porto as a new hub and Galicia as a key partner,” he assured.
Joined by Galician president, Alfonso Rueda Valenzuela, they announced plans to make northern Spain and Portugal a ‘major competitor’ in Europe’s tourism economy.
By 2034, it is hoped another rail line linking Lisbon and Madrid will also be finished.
However, according to Porto Mayor, Rui Moreira the Port-Vigo line will be used ‘seven times more’.
He also urged officials to ‘think outside their capitals’ and develop ‘high speed, clean and sustainable infrastructure’ that Europe ‘urgently needs.’