Trivia question for the question: Which states held territories in the Iberian Peninsula between the 10th and 19th centuries? Most of our readers would quickly identify four of these five countries: Spain, Portugal, Andorra and the United Kingdom, owner of Gibraltar since July 13, 1713, the date of signing of the Treaty of Utrecht.
But what is the fifth and how did it manage to remain a independent micro-state for more than 700 years, in a border area with just over a thousand inhabitants? This is the story unique and unknown of Couto Misto (in Galician, Couto Mixto, and in Castilian, Coto Mixto).
A microrepublic between two kingdoms
We have to go back to the 10th century, at the end of the Middle Ages, to understand the origins of this 26.9 km² enclave located north of the Larouco mountain range, in the current Spanish province of Ourense, Galicia, and crossed by the Salas river basin.
Couto Misto included the municipalities of Santiago de Rubiás (currently belonging to Calvos de Randín) and Meaus (currently in Baltar), both currently Galician. There was still a small unpopulated strip of what is currently the Portuguese village of Montalegre.
The origin of these villages is linked to the castle of A Picoña. Currently, only the foundations and the cistern remain of what was an important defensive fortress strategically located in border territory.
In a context of complex relations between feudal lords and having as the main object of confrontation the independence of the Kingdom of Portugal (1139) in relation to the Kingdom of Leão, Couto Misto, particularly isolated, managed to maintain its autonomy. He also created a system of social organization and Government certainly advanced for its time and closer to democracy.
Government, organization and privileges
While in medieval Europe power was in the hands of feudal monarchies, Couto Misto was constituted as a republic whose political system was based on three mayors (“home de acordó”) democratically elected by each of the three villages.
These managed local affairs and resolved disputes between neighbors without the need for external interference. The presidency of the Government and maximum authority rested with a judge (“xuiz”)who was also elected by the villagers themselves in elections held every three winters.
The church of Santiago de Rubiás It was the seat of Parliament and also the place where the nation’s treasury and official documents They were kept in a chest with three keys (one for each mayor).
In terms of social organization, relations between its citizens were based on equality and cooperation, necessary for survival in such an isolated region. The language used by its inhabitants was Galician.
Among the most notable rights and privileges, the right to asylum stands out, used by those fleeing Spanish and Portuguese justice, and the territory was a refuge for criminals, who could choose Spanish or Portuguese nationality, as they pleased.
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In Couto Misto there was also no military service (they did not contribute soldiers to any cause) and its inhabitants could carry weapons. Other privileges were tax exemption, the freedom to grow crops such as tobacco or to trade products such as salt, which at the time could only be bought and sold in tobacconists.
Haven for criminals and smugglers
To take advantage of this commercial freedom, the so-called Camiño Privilexiadowhich crossed the territory of Couto Misto and connected Rubiás to the Portuguese municipality of Tourém, was used for the transit of people and goods.
Its status as a neutral route gave it a special status, meaning the road was also exempt from certain regulations and tariffs that applied to other trade routes.
As such, was used by those who wished to avoid taxes and restrictions applicable on other routes. It was also a guarantee for smugglers. Neither the Spanish nor the Portuguese authorities were able to stop their users.
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After the disappearance of Couto Misto privileges, Camiño Privilexiado was also used during the Franco dictatorship to allow republican exiles to escape to the other side of the border.
The end of your story
In 1864, Spain and Portugal signed the Treaty of Lisbon, which definitively established the borders that the two countries currently maintain. He was the end of the only example of local self-government in the history of the Iberian Peninsula.
After the dispute over the territory of Couto Misto, Portugal ended up ceding it to Spain in exchange for sovereignty over the so-called “promiscuous villages”. This territory was made up of the villages of Cambedo (in the current parish of Vilarelho da Raia), Soutelinho da Raia and Lama de Arcos, which were in a similar situation.
In Couto Misto, inhabitants who wanted to retain Portuguese nationality were able to do so, after notifying the authorities under Article XXVII of the Treaty.
Over time, the Camiño Privilexiado lost its importance and ceased to exist as a commercial route. Of the small republic There remains only a bronze statue erected in 2008 in Calvos de Randín in memory of Delfín Modesto Brandónthe last judge who governed the tiny nation until 1864.
