“Regarding Alqueva, it was simply a matter of monitoring what was being spent on the Spanish side, doing the math, and Spain, naturally, is willing to pay what it owes us for water from Alqueva,” said Maria da Graça Carvalho.

According to the minister, the amount to be paid to Portugal will be two million euros per year, a figure that, from the perspective of Spain, is not “exorbitant”.

Maria da Graça Carvalho said that the agreement to be signed between her and her Spanish counterpart, on 26 September, in the Spanish capital, Madrid, will involve not only the regulation of water collection in Alqueva but also issues related to the Tagus and Guadiana rivers.

When asked by journalists whether Portugal had made concessions in order to reach a bilateral consensus, the Minister of the Environment responded that it was not necessary to give in “at all” and that the negotiations went “very well”, stressing that Spain is interested “in resolving the problems”.