evidence: Nuno Melo, Portugal’s new defense minister, has revived an almost forgotten debate. "Olivenza is Portuguese, naturally, and this is not a provocation," said Melo during a visit to the Portuguese town of Estremoz, near the border with Spain, on September 13. The minister was thus claiming sovereignty over a locality of 11,776 residents in the Spanish province of Badajoz, on the border between the two countries, on the basis of the Treaty of Alcañices, which dates back to 1297 and according to which the Portuguese State does not recognize Olivenza as Spanish territory. [...] The Extremaduran town of Olivenza was founded in 1230 by Alfonso IX of León. The municipality belonged to this Spanish kingdom until 1297 with the signing of the Treaty of Alcañices, an agreement whereby Olivenza was ceded to Portugal. From that moment until the Portuguese Restoration War of 1640, the municipality was part of Portugal, but after the end of the conflict it was again recovered by the Spanish kingdom of Castile. It was handed over to Portugal again after signing the Treaty of Lisbon in 1668. During the War of the Oranges, in 1801, it was conquered by the troops of Manuel Godoy, and came under Spanish control until our days. This situation is considered unfair by Portugal's defense minister, who is a member of the executive of the conservative Luis Montenegro, in power since April.