Regarding territorial issues, there is the border conflict of Olivença, a subject that politicians on both sides do the best to ignore, but that still foments a lot of conflict between nationalistic thinkers on both sides.

What about cultural connections. I've read that you have as differences from Castillians as Catalunians, Gallicians and Asturians have,is that true? Can you Portoguese be understandable by a Castillian? Do your today's differences have anything to do with pre-roman ethnic distirbution?

Cultural conexions between Spain and Portugal are quite close. Both countries are Iberian and they used to be a single country in large periods of history.

 

Portuguese and Spanish are two language so close related two persons can talk each other one in Portuguese and the other in Spanish without loosing so much of the meaning. If a spanish speaker wants to SPEAK portuguese requires training, but for listening or reading Portuguese no trainning is requiered.

 

Now, Portugal and Spain are not identical. People, traditions, sensibility and arts are similar but not exactly the same. Spanish Flamenco is rude and violent, Portuguese Fado is all sweetness. Spaniards bullfighting is a ritual killing of a bull; Portuguese one is a gymnastic show without the butchery. Spaniards love tragedy, Portugueses preffer fun.  But they also share many things in common. Both love wine and are Latin societies.

 

The same is true between Hispanic America and Brazil, which are related peoples but not exactly the same.

 

Pinguin

Last week I've heard a new that said that 1/3 of Portuguese would be agree with a union with Spain . There are some cultural differences between Spain and Portugal but not more than in Spain between some regions. The languages are very close and i can understand many things (I speak Catalan also and it's a help),

 

There is another topic very similar in another board, 

http://www.allempires.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=14174 - http://www.allempires.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=14174