Who are we?

The King Afonso Henriques Hispano-Portuguese Foundation is a Private Institution with Public Participation, created by public deed on February 7, 1994 and registered in the Foundation Register in Spain by dispatch no. 26379 of October 31 of the same year and published in the Official Gazette of November 29, 1994 and in Portugal by decree no. 17/96 of the Ministry of Internal Administration and published in the Official Gazette no. 71/96 of March 23.

The Foundation was recognised in Portugal as a Collective Fund of Public Utility through the Office of the Prime Minister published in the Diario de la República; 2nd series nº 29 of 4 February 1999.

On 25th July 1995, the King Afonso Henriques Foundation had the honour of being recognised with the High Patronage of the President of the Republic of Portugal.

The Board of Trustees is the highest organ of the Foundation, the board of directors and administration. It is statutorily composed of natural and legal persons and is made up of companies, associations, public bodies, universities and supranational and regional entities from Spain and Portugal.

In 1994, a group of individuals and representatives of public and private institutions from Spain and Portugal linked to the world of culture and business came together to create the FRAH. At that time, the institution is constituted which, as we have seen above, will express its official recognition in Spain and Portugal through the regulatory legal channels.

From that moment on, the Organic Structure of the FRAH was created, its Statutes were approved, the measures of its Internal Regulations were drawn up and its aims and objectives were defined.

 The aims and objectives are not only to contribute to the well-being of the populations of the entire Douro River Basin, but also to deepen the cultural, social and economic relations between the North of Portugal and the Community of Castile-Leon.

To this end, a set of initiatives and projects will be developed that will aim to permeate the border area and bring, through mutual knowledge, the realities of the geographical areas described.

In order to carry out all its activities, an emblematic space was essential, so an agreement was reached to acquire, rehabilitate and furnish the former Convent of San Francisco ExtraPontem in the city of Zamora, a privileged space suitable for the development of all the initiatives that the Foundation carries out. The combined forces of the Zamora Provincial Council, the Junta de Castilla y León and the European Union through its INTERREG II programme have made the Foundation's headquarters a reality.

The Zamora Provincial Council, owner of the building, gave it to the FRAH to carry out its founding objectives, inaugurating it on 31 October 1998 with the presence of representatives of the European Union, the Junta de Castilla y León, the Provincial Government of Zamora and all the members that were then part of the Foundation's Board of Directors.

As a binational institution, FRAH is based in the city of Bragança in Portugal.

During these years, the FRAH has carried out numerous activities, as reflected in its Annual Reports. Activities that have been supported by its Board of Trustees and the European Union through various programmes of an economic, social or cultural nature.