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Honourable Mayor

Allow me to start by thanking you for the touching words you have just said and to let you know how honoured I feel for the gesture of this House in deciding to grant me the Gold Key of the city of Madrid.

I would also like to congratulate, through you, all the citizens of Madrid, for the magnificent city that receives us today. Joining the richness of the heritage that History has left you, and that you have known how to preserve, to the examples of daring and modernism, which well illustrate the creativity of your peoples, Madrid impresses and enchants all who visit her. And the President of the Portuguese Republic is no exception.

I also want to express my gratitude for the warm hospitality with which we have been received in your city. A welcoming that says everything about the very special nature of the ties that unite the Portuguese and the Spaniards.

The special nature of such ties and the particular regard that I have for H.M. the King, led me to decide that Spain would be my first State Visit as President of the Portuguese Republic.

Honourable Mayor

Madrid has been, throughout the centuries, a city of welcome. People have come here from every corner of the world, bringing enterprise and the will to win; sharing with those already settled the love for this generous land. Testimonies of this multiplicity are visible all over and are one of the enchanting features of this city which each day is renewed.

Amongst those that Madrid welcomed are citizens of my country. Approximately six thousand Portuguese live here, totally integrated in the city’s life. Highly placed managers of Portuguese, Spanish or Lusitanian-Spanish enterprises, teachers, scientists, tradesmen, civil construction workers, all contribute, with the vigour of their work, to the development of this sister country.

From the relationships which these my countrymen built, to the complicities they created, to the knowledge they have of the realities on both sides of the border, we owe, both Portuguese and Spaniards, much of the notable progress that the relations between our two countries have seen since the consolidation of democracy and the adhesion to the European Union. This would not be the case, if Madrid had not welcomed them as it did, and that too, as President of the Portuguese Republic, I want to thank you for on this day.

The relationship between Portugal and Spain is multifaceted. Cooperation between both countries embraces many fields. Portugal is today, for Spain, a more important trading partner than all the Americas. Just as Spain is, in relation to Portugal, the first of its economic partners. This is natural with neighbours. In the respect for the identity and interests of each one, the existing inter-relation open up the possibility of partnerships and this can only be to our benefit in a world where who speaks alone will find difficulty in making himself heard.

Cooperation between the two countries can only gain from the tightening of the ties between the structures of the local authorities.

Since 1979 that Madrid and Lisbon are twin cities. Since these are the capital cities of Spain and Portugal, this twinning has an emblematic value, and is a particularly relevant example for other Portuguese and Spanish cities.

The advantages of this cooperation at local authority level are many. It brings riches to the cities that adopt it; it allows obtaining advantages in the framework of the community in such diverse areas as culture and planning. And whilst facilitating mutual approach and knowledge, it is a powerful tool for the tightening of the relations between countries.

Honourable Mayor

I have to mention the tragic events which, two years ago, stamped the History of your city: the terrorist bombings of March 11, 2004 that placed in mourning Madrid, the Spanish people and all whom, in the world shared the same feeling of pain and shock.

I must recall the impressive answer of the authorities and people of Madrid in the face of such a tragic event, in a moving demonstration of the dignity that characterizes a people who will not be run down, and much less cower.

I wanted, in this visit, to pay tribute to the victims of the terrorist bombings of March 11, and through them, to the victims of terrorism. I also wanted that this homage embraced all that, in Madrid, due to the strength of their example, led us to believe in the greatness of the values which are the pillars of democracy.

I wanted, finally, to do what I am doing now, cordially: to thank Madrid.

Thank you very much