“There is no war over water. There is, on the part of Portugal and Spain, joint and permanent work (…) and what is an understanding regarding a particularly difficult year on this side and on the other side”.

“We have been in contact with Spain, regarding what are the responsibilities that both countries have in terms of international commitments that they assume and we will, naturally, as we have always done, respect what international commitments are. And, obviously, we believe that Spain has respect for the international commitments it assumes,” he declared.

He also referred that “any situation that concerns the understanding of problems that are being experienced, must, of course, be discussed between the two countries”.

“That is what we will continue to do”, he said, assuming that the drought is a structural problem and the Government will “continue to privilege dialogue, which is the correct way to solve the problems”.

On the 22nd, the delegate of the Spanish central government in the autonomous region of Castile and Leon, Virgínia Barcones, said that Spain will maintain the flow of water from rivers to Portugal and respect the flows agreed bilaterally.

"Spain is a serious state that fulfils the international agreements it signs", assured Virgínia Barcones, in response to questions from journalists in the Spanish city of León, quoted by the EFE news agency.

The representative of the Spanish central government in the autonomous region of Castile and Leon, which borders the districts of Bragança and Guarda, added that, in Portugal, the destination of water from rivers shared by the two countries "has the same restrictions because of the drought".