There is an important tradition of anthropological and sociological studies on governance in relation to the development of local-based tourism. However, researches that have addressed this phenomenon in cross-border destinations are scarce. This literature reveals that objective difficulties concur to consolidate initiatives cooperation able to articulate the fact border face a local-based tourism development. This work is based on an ethnography conducted in the towns of Alcoutim (Algarve, Portugal) and Sanlúcar de Guadiana (Andalusia, Spain) located in the Portuguese-Spanish riverside border that draws the river The Guadiana. Cross-border cooperation initiatives unsuccessful and the causes that explain the lack of consolidated tourist collaborative networks are studied. Multidependence situation forms the structural basis of the phenomenon.