The new maritime map of Portugal and the case of the «Salvajes» Islands

Abstract

This paper makes a brief review about the current Portuguese maritime policy, especially, the «expansion» process of the continental shelf undertaken by Portugal to the UN and its result: “the new maritime map of Portugal”. However, some of the borders in this new map were not yet agreed bilaterally with Spain. This situation has led to diplomatic tensions between the two countries, which are object of this paper analise. However, we argue that it is possible to overcome these disputes if we focus on the potential of the “new Law of the Sea”. So call, the articulation of the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) with the European Law existing on this subject –especially the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). One of the main conclusions of our paper is that this directive will contribute to the strengthening of the Portuguese-Spanish cooperation on protection of the marine environment, as well as to resolve issues related to the establishment of maritime boundaries.