The cross-border reterritorialization concept revisited: the territorialist approach applied to the case of Cerdanya on the French-Spanish border

ABSTRACT

The aim of this paper is to bring new elements into the theoretical discussion so as to better understand the realities of borderlands. Our goal involves projecting a new conceptualization of the cross-border territory and cross-border reterritorialization by refining the analytical framework envisioned by the current literature on border studies. More specifically, we apply the so-called ‘territorialist approach’, an innovative and culturally oriented approach for territorial studies that is rooted in the Italian geographical school. Cross-border territories are conceived as complex territorial units, whereby geographical, socioeconomic and cultural patterns are affected and thus altered by the fixation of international boundaries and territorialization. Nevertheless, the persistence of local cross-border networks, both formal and informal, contributes to the maintenance of a shared local milieu. The European integration processes, especially in view of the European Territorial Cooperation programmes, represent an important framework for supporting local cross-border cooperation and boosting new territorial strategies for borderlands. From this perspective, we hypothesize that new cycles of local cross-border reterritorialization can be observed along the EU borderlands by creating new forms of cross-border territorial capital. The case study of Cerdanya (French-Spanish border) illustrates the application of the theoretical framework by analysing the enduring experiences of cross-border cooperation.

KEYWORDS:

• Borderland
• cross-border reterritorialization
• local milieu
• territorial capital
• Cerdanya

Acknowledgements

This research was conducted in the framework of the research project CS02013-45257-P funded by Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (MINECO) called Territorial Cooperation in Spain and the EU: A selection of guiding experiences for Excellency and Innovation in the 2014-2020 period (COOP-RECOT II). We thank Professor Antoni Durà Guimerà (Autonomous University of Barcelona, UAB), Professor Margarida Castañer Vivas (University of Girona, UdG), Hyerim Yoon and an anonymous reviewer for their insights and comments, which greatly improved the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

ORCID

Matteo Berzi http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3669-9397

Notes

1. Historically, ‘Lies and Passeries’ was a local agreement signed between mountain communities along and across the Pyrenees in the twelfth century. The expression ‘lies et passeries’ (contracts, agreements to the transit) derives from the terms ‘patz’, ‘partzeries’ (peace) and ‘liens’ (links/ties). These pacts go back to the period before the formation of the French and the Spanish kingdoms until the seventeenth century. ‘Lies et passeries’ ensured peace and economic growth among the Pyrenean communities thanks to considerable economic privileges (free transhumance and trade in the closest valleys, low taxation, etc.). See Gómez-Ibáñez (1975) and Brunet (2002).

2. The European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) is a legal instrument introduced by the European Commission in 2006 for facilitating and enhancing cross-border cooperation between public administrations (Reg. EC 1082/2006).

3. This case study, which is based on empirical research carried out between 2014 and 2015 in Cerdanya, uses the following methods and data sources: (a) academic references, such as investigations of Sahlins (1989), Mancebo (1999), Moncusí (2005), Oliveras (2013), etc.; (b) institutional sources for statistical data (EUROSTAT, INSEE and IDESCAT) and cross-border cooperative programmes (POCTEFA 2007–2013, INTERREG IIIA EFA 2000–2006 and the Regional Funds for cross-border micro-projects); (c) fieldwork for conducting semi-structured interviews of local and regional actors (both public and private) and consulting local sources. The information has been catalogued in databases for statistical and cartographic analysis on the one hand, to observe the existence of a local cross-border TC and, on the other hand, to analyse the achievement of cross-border cooperative initiatives.

4. Upper Cerdanya belongs almost entirely to the Canton de Saillagouse (a local administrative unit in the French Départemental des Pyrénées-Orientales). In contrast, Lower Cerdanya represents a unique Catalan county (‘comarca’ in Catalan) that is divided between the provinces of Girona and Lleida (Figure 3).

5. Agreement between the Catalan Government and the Département des Pyrénées-Orientales, established in 2006 and renovated in 2011 to give financial support to small cross-border initiative.

6. The Cross-Border Landscape Plan involves the Consell Comarcal de la Cerdanya, the Communauté de Communes Pyrénées-Cerdagne and the Municipality of Llívia.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the pre-doctoral contract [FI-2016] from the Department of Innovation, Education and Enterprise, Government of Catalonia.