Brief history of Olivenza

• 1297 - Through the Alcanizes Treaty between Dinis, King of Portugal and Fernando IV, King of Castela, Olivenza was definitely made part of the Portuguese territory.

• 1298 - Dinis, King of Portugal, granted "Carta de Foral" (municipal constitution) to Olivenza and built new walls. 

• 1488 - João II, King of Portugal, built the tower of Olivenza (Torre de Menagem). 

 

 
• 1510 - Manuel I, King of Portugal, granted new “Foral” (municipal constitution) to Olivenza. 


           This King built new fortifications and the Olivenza Bridge, which linked Olivenza to Elvas (now a Portuguese town). Later, this bridge became known as Nossa Senhora da Ajuda Bridge. 
          In the reign of King Manuel I the construction of Madalena's Church started. This church would be the residence of the Bishop of Ceuta for many years. 

• 1580 - Dynastic Union between Portugal and Spain. 

• 1640, December 1st - Restoration of the Portuguese Independence. 

• 1668 - Peace treaty between Spain and Portugal, thus ending the Restoration Wars. 


          Portugal kept the borders defined by the Alcanizes Treaty (1297). 
          Spain never questioned the Portuguese sovereignty in Olivenza, despite the constant fights in the bordering zone.

• 1709 - In the aftermath of the Spanish Succession War, the Olivenza Bridge was destroyed by Spanish forces and has remained so until today.

• 1801, January 29th - Spain and France signed an invasion treaty against Portugal to make it abandon the Portuguese-British Alliance and close its ports to British ships. 

• 1801, February 27th - Spain declares war on Portugal. 

• 1801, May 20th - The Spanish troops invade the South of Portugal and occupy Olivenza, Juromenha and, a few days later, Campo Maior. 

• 1801, June 6th - Peace Treaty of Badajoz between Portugal on one side, and on the other side Spain and France. 


          In this treaty, signed because of the threat of invasion of Portugal by the French troops stationed in Ciudad Rodrigo, the following was agreed upon:
 

• Portugal would give Olivenza to Spain; 
• Portugal would close its ports to British ships; 
• Portugal would pay France an indemnification of 15 million pounds ("libras tornesas") ; and 
• would accept the Guiana borders as far as the mouth of the River Arawani.


          The Treaty of Badajoz stipulated that the breach of any of its articles would lead to its cancellation, which came to pass in 1807. 
 

• 1807, October 27th - The Treaty of Fontainbleau, signed between Spain and France, defined the occupation of Portugal and its division into three parts: the Province of Entre Douro-e-Minho for the King of the Etrúria; the Principality of the Algarves for Spanish minister D. Manuel Godoy; the remaining provinces and overseas territories would be distributed by a future agreement.  

 
• 1807, November - the Spanish and French forces started the occupation of Portugal, forcing the Portuguese Royal Family to transfer the government to Brazil. 


          By signing the Treaty of Fontainbleau and invading Portugal, Spain brought about the cancellation of the Treaty of Peace of Badajoz, losing the rights that it could have acquired in Olivenza. 
 

• 1808, May 1st - the Prince Regent of Portugal D. João published, in Rio De Janeiro, a manifesto in which the Treaty of Badajoz, annulled by the 1807 invasion, was repudiated.

• 1809, July - Portugal, through D. Pedro de Sousa e Holstein, future Duke of Palmela, presented to the "Junta Central", in Seville, an official order of  restitution of the Territory of Olivenza. 

 
• 1810, February 19th - Treaty of alliance and friendship between Portugal and Britain, whereby Great-Britain pledged to help Portugal to regain possession of Olivenza, receiving in return the exploration of the Portuguese establishments of Bissau and Cacheu for a period of 50 years. 

 
• 1810 - Portugal negotiated a treaty with the Regency Counsel of Spain, whereby Olivenza should be given back to Portugal.

• 1811, April 15th - Portuguese military forces occupy Olivenza. 


          Beresford, British marshal who occupied the rank of Head-general of the Portuguese army, ordered the restitution of Olivenza to the Spanish authorities, probably so that Great-Britain would not lose the advantages gained with the 1810 Treaty between Portugal and Britain. 
 

• 1814, May 30th - The Treaty of Paris, in article 3 of the Amendments section, declared the 1810 treaties of Badajoz and Madrid null and void. 

 
• 1815, June 9th - According to the Final Minutes of the Congress of Vienna, in article 105, the Portuguese rights to the Territory of Olivenza were recognized. 

 
• 1815, October,  27 - Expecting the quick restitution of Olivenza, Prince Regent João VI nominated D. Jose Luiz de Sousa as Plenipotentiary. He should proceed to the acceptance of the territory.

 
• 1817, May 7th - Spain signed the Treaty of Vienna, «recognizing the justice of the claims formulated by His Highness, the Prince Regent of Portugal and Brazil, on the village of Olivenza and the other territories yielded to Spain by the Treaty of Badajoz of 1801»; and committing to make «the more efficient efforts so that the restitution of the above-mentioned territories to Portugal wil take place», which should «happen as soon as possible». 

• 1818 - To decide a territorial litigation between Portugal and Spain in South America, a proposal of a treaty was drafted, whereby Spain accepted the restitution of Olivenza. 

• 1840 - The Portuguese language was forbidden in the Territory of Olivenza, including in churches. 

• 1858 - Isabel II of Spain granted the title of Town to Olivenza. 

 

Olivenza Town hall
Former House of the Duke and Duchess of Cadaval

• 1864, September 29th - a covenant between Portugal and Spain was signed, demarcating the border from the estuary of the River Minho to the confluence of the River Caia with the River Guadiana. The definition of the territorial limits was not pursued because of the Question of Olivenza. 

• 1903 - D. Carlos, King of Portugal, requested the Spanish monarch that justice be made in the Litigation of Olivenza. 

 
• 1911 - The Portuguese Senator Ramos da Costa raised the question of Olivenza in the Senate. 

• 1918/19 - With the end of the First World War, the Portuguese Government studied the possibility of taking the Question of Olivenza to the Peace Conference. With this purpose, the Ambassador Teixeira de Sampaio wrote an extensive report. 

 

 

          As Spain did not participate in the world-wide conflict, the intervention of the international community in the Litigation of Olivenza was not possible.
 

• 1926, June 29th - Portugal and Spain celebrated an agreement for the demarcation of the border from the estuary of the River Cuncos to the estuary of the River Guadiana.


          Owing to the Problem of Olivenza, the border between Portugal and Spain from the estuary of the River Caia to the estuary of the River Cuncos has not been demarcated until today.
 

• 1936-39 - Spanish Civil War.


          During the Spanish conflict, Colonel Rodrigo Pereira Botelho offered to occupy Olivenza. The Portuguese Regiment 8, stationed in Elvas, was prepared to take Olivenza but was hindered by hierarchic superiors. A group of Portuguese legionaries had the same intention. Some ‘oliventinos’ (i.e. inhabitants of Olivenza) who defended Olivenza’s reintegration into Portugal, will have been eliminated during the turmoil the Civil War. The ‘oliventinos’ who took refuge on the Portuguese side of the Guadiana were sheltered, while the Spaniards were sent back to their territory.
 

• 1938, August 15th - The Pro-Olivenza Society (Sociedade Pró-Olivenza) was established.

 
• 1944/45 - In Lisbon, the Group of the Friends of Olivenza (Grupo dos Amigos de Olivenza) was formed.

 
• 1952 - In the International Commission of Limits, Portugal claimed ownership of the Territory of Olivenza. 

 
• 1958 - Humberto Delgado was elected as President of the General Assembly of the Group of the Friends of Olivenza. 

 
• 1958-59 - Portugal reaffirmed its rights to Olivenza in the International Commission of Limits. 

 
• 1965, February 13th - General Humberto Delgado was assassinated by the Ribeira de Olivenza. It is thought that his body passed in Olivenza on the way to Villanueva del Fresno, where it was abandoned. 

 
• 1968 - A covenant between Portugal and Spain was signed, guaranteeing the Portuguese ownership of the two banks of the Guadiana, since the confluence of the Caia to Mourão. Portugal kept its claims to the Territory of Olivenza. 

 
• 1974 - A Spanish legal consultant of the International Commission of Limits recognized Portugal’s right to claim ownership of Olivenza. 

 
• 1981 - Admiral Pinheiro de Azevedo assumed leadership of the Group of the Friends of Olivenza. 


          This former Prime-Minister of Portugal conceived a plan to occupy Olivenza in a pacific way, which did not materialize due to lack of cooperation of the organs of government and to the indifference of the Portuguese public opinion. To make his project known, Pinheiro de Azevedo published a book on the subject of Olivenza and visited this town. His trip to Olivenza generated great tension, therefore Spain sent an enormous contigent of the Civil Guard to prevent problems. 
 

• 1988 - The Portuguese Ambassador Carlos Empis Wemans, Portugal’s representative in the International Commission of Limits, stated to the Diário de Lisboa, a Portuguese daily newspaper: 

«Portugal has never officially recognized the situation. From a legal point of view, Olivenza is still ours. So, when answering occasional contacts from Spain about problems in the region, we always say that  Olivenza is Portuguese "de jure"».

• 1990 - In the Iberian Summit, the prime-ministers of Portugal and Spain signed a covenant for the reconstruction of the Olivenza Bridge, a joint project, which put the Portuguese rights to Olivenza at risk since it could be understood as a recognition of the border in the Guadiana. 

• 1990, August - the Committee Portuguese Olivenza was legally constituted. 

• 1992 - The television programme ‘Contradictions’ (on RTP - Channel 2, one of the Portuguese state broadcasting stations) showed a debate on the Question of Olivenza, in which the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Franco Nogueira, participated. 

1994, March - The Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, headed by Durão Barroso, blocked the execution of the project of reconstruction of the Olivenza bridge. The Portuguese Ambassador Pinto Soares, the Portuguese representative in the International Commission of Limits, refused to discuss the file on the bridge, stating that «the Portuguese State cannot be involved in any project that involves the recognition of the borderlines in a place on which there is no consensus.».

Olivenza Bridge, or Nossa Senhora da Ajuda Bridge
Elvas

• 1994, November - In the Iberian Summit of Oporto, an agreement was reached that the bridge be reconstructed by Portugal, without Spanish intervention, so that the Portuguese rights to the Territory of Olivenza would not be put at stake.

• 1995, March - the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Environment Ministry sent to Madrid a detailed study of the effects that the construction of the Alqueva Dam in Portugal would have on Spanish territory.


          As Portugal did not recognize Spanish sovereignty on Olivenza, information on this legally Portuguese territory was not included in the 13 volumes of the study sent to the Spanish authorities. Only one week later, in deference to the Spaniards and to simplify technical aspects, did our administration send information in which data on Olivenza was included. But, in order to emphasise the Portuguese position, the study was entitled ‘Territory of Spain and Olivenza’, which clearly demonstrated that the Portuguese administration did not consider Olivenza as part of Spains.

• 1995, May - The Law School of the University of Lisbon organized a debate on the Question of Olivenza. The Spanish representatives did not attend the debate.