El territorio transfronterizo de Alqueva. Los desafíos de la innovación y el desarrollo sostenible

Abstract

Alqueva is currently one of the largest reservoirs or artificial lakes in Europe. It is locatedin the middle course of the Guadiana River, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, inthe cross-border region of Alentejo, although it floods some areas in the west of theprovince of Badajoz (Extremadura). It has 250 km2 of surface and nearly 1.160 km. ofshores. Since its final construction in 2002, this reservoir has brought new territorialopportunities and challenges; which go through innovation and sustainable territorialdevelopment. In fact, it has made it possible to stop the emigration flows that until thenaffected this region and advance cross-border cooperation.The objective of this contribution is to analyze the different socioeconomic,infrastructural and demographic changes that have occurred in the last two decades,especially the materialization of the EFMA project – “Empreendimento de Fins Múltiplosde Alqueva”. For this, qualitative and quantitative information has been collected, theresult of statistics, cartography and bibliographies. This analysis has allowed us to makea diagnosis and make some proposals.Acreditamos que as experiências de desenvolvimento territorial de Alqueva,especialmente as de carácter turístico, podem ser transferidas para outras albufeirasinteriores da península e para zonas de baixa densidade demográfica, contribuindoassim para novas oportunidades no mundo rural.