On 29 August 2026, the municipalities of Jaca, Etsaut, Cette-Eygun and Urdós gave the Tratado de Astún renewed it. The ceremony took place at Puerto de Somport and included the traditional formal recognition of the mugas fronterizas, the boundary markers between Jacetania in Spain and the Valle de Aspe in France.
According to the administrations involved, the signed protocol will, as usual, be sent for information to the foreign ministries of Spain and France. The mayors Carlos Serrano Pérez (Jaca), Damien Minvielle (Etsaut), Ophélie Escot (Cette-Eygun) and Bruno Guitton (Urdós) took part in the signing at the Espacio Somport . Through this annual event, the municipalities reaffirm their cooperation in a border area where grazing rights, rights of way and neighbourly assistance have traditionally been regulated.
The Tratado de Astún is considered one of Europe’s oldest continuously reaffirmed local agreements. Its documented origins date back to 1131, when King Alfonso I de Aragón granted the monks of the Hospital de Santa Cristina de Somport rights to use the surrounding high pastures. In the centuries that followed, these rights were clarified through further agreements and arbitration rulings.
Today, the ritual renewal at Puerto de Somport has become a symbol of neighbourly relations in practice across the national border. Legally, the annual confirmation neither changes the course of the national border nor creates new obligations under international law. Instead, it safeguards the continuity of local arrangements and highlights practical cooperation between municipalities on both sides of the Pyrenees.
According to the town halls, the partners use the occasion to discuss shared concerns, for example in infrastructure, civil protection and tourism. For Jaca and the Valle de Aspe, the event also raises the public profile of rural border issues, which in everyday life often require coordination across administrative boundaries. The date of 29
August 2026 and the names of the officials involved are based on regional press reports and statements from the municipal administrations. By the editorial deadline, no further public information was available about subsequent administrative steps after this year’s documents were sent to the foreign ministries.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).