Border issues: Florianópolis and Olivença, two sides of the same coin

Abstract

To identify in the cities of Olivenza (Spain) and in the city of Florianópolis (Brazil), marks of the dispute between Portuguese and Castilians to mark Iberian borders or for the control of America's southern Atlantic south coast is the first objective of this article. These cities will be bargaining chips in Treaties in one of the many attempts to resolve these conflicts. The urban defense structures built in both spaces in the middle of the XVIII century marked the territory. The intended reconstruction seeks in the current urban space of Florianópolis and Olivença the signs that denounce the struggle between Iberians in the urge to satisfy their needs and desires. The Portuguese borders most threatened by invasions, in this period, are the southern border of the colony Brazil and the southeastern Iberian border on the bank of the River Guadiana. The enemy was the same in both cases: the Castilians. Thus, in the first half of the 18th century, military reinforcement in these two frontiers, which were so physically distant, yet so close in their vulnerability, was a constant. To state that Santa Catarina Island and the Iberian region where Olivença is located have no physical, geographical or social resemblance is to state the obvious. But we can reflect on the materiality arising from historical episodes.