Olivenza

Olivenza (Spanish: [oliˈβenθa] ) or Olivença (Portuguese: [oliˈvẽsɐ] ) is a town in southwestern Spain, close to the Portugal–Spain border. It is a municipality belonging to the province of Badajoz, and to the wider autonomous community of Extremadura. The town of Olivença was under Portuguese sovereignty from 1297 (Treaty of Alcañices) to 1801, when it was occupied by Spain during the War of the Oranges and ceded that year under the Treaty of Badajoz. Spain has since administered the territory (now split into two municipalities, Olivenza and Táliga), whereas Portugal invokes the self-revocation of the Treaty of Badajoz, plus the Congress of Vienna of 1815, to claim the return of the territory. In spite of the territorial dispute between Portugal and Spain, the issue has not been a sensitive matter in the relations between these two countries. Olivenza and other neighbouring Spanish (La Codosera, Alburquerque and Badajoz) and Portuguese (Arronches, Campo Maior, Estremoz, Portalegre and Elvas) towns reached an agreement in 2008 to create a euroregion.