Resumo: Research related to cross-border governance in tourist destinations reveals that there are a series of objective limitations to the successful development of these experiences. This paper aims to contribute to the study of the factors that prevent the institutionalization of cross-border governance to promote tourism. To this end, a specific case is analyzed on the border, defined by the river Guadiana, between Spain and Portugal, and two of the populations on its opposing shores; Alcoutim (in the Algarve, Portugal) and Sanlúcar de Guadiana (in Andalusia, Spain). The causes that explain the weak institutionalisation of cross-border governance are studied, taking into account a combination of exogenous and endogenous factors. This study finds that the structural base of this phenomenon is the situation of multidependence that relegates this space to a peripheral position in its regional context, which, in itself is already peripheral.
