Le Perthus (, , ) is a commune in the

Pyrénées-Orientales Pyrénées-Orientales (; ; ; ), also known as Northern Catalonia, is a departments of France, department of the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southern France, adjacent to the northern Spain, Spanish ...

department in southern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

.INSEE commune file
/ref> Natives of Le Perthus are called ''Perthusiens'' and, in 2021, there were 560 inhabitants. Le Perthus is also one of French territories on the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

Geography

Le Perthus is situated in the

canton of Vallespir-Albères The Canton of Vallespir-Albères is a French canton of Pyrénées-Orientales department, in Occitanie. At the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015, the canton was created including 8 communes from the canton of Céret ...

and the

arrondissement of Céret The arrondissement of Céret is an arrondissement of France in the Pyrénées-Orientales department ( Northern Catalonia) in the Occitanie region. It has 64 communes. Its population is 134,629 (2021), and its area is . Composition The commune ...

, in the historical region of

Vallespir Vallespir (; ) is a historical Catalan comarca in Northern Catalonia, part of the French department of Pyrénées-Orientales. Geography The capital of the comarca is Ceret, and it borders the comarques of Conflent, Rosselló, Alt Empordà ...

, on the borders with

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. Its contiguous Spanish

twin town A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inte ...

Els Límits Els Límits () is a Spanish village, a civil parish of the municipality of La Jonquera, situated in the province of Girona, Catalonia, in Spain. As of 2005 its population was of 115. Its Spanish language, Spanish name is Los Límites. History T ...

(a parish of the commune of

La Jonquera La Jonquera (; ) is a municipality in the ''Comarques of Catalonia, comarca'' of Alt Empordà, l'Alt Empordà, in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated next to the border with Northern Catalonia, nowadays France, opposite the municipality of Le Perthu ...

, in the

Province of Girona The Province of Girona ( ; ) is a Provinces of Spain, province in the northeastern part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. It is bordered on the northwest by the province of Lleida, on the southwest ...

), is situated in the east and south side of the urban area. Also part of the main road, ''Avenue de France'', is in both France and Spain; and its eastern side (in Els Limits) is named ''Avinguda de Catalunya''. Out of the main road, in which is situated the checkpoint (totally on the Spanish side), the other principal roads are ''Rue du

Fort de Bellegarde The ''Fort de Bellegarde'' (''Fort'' or ''Castell de Bellaguarda / Bellaguàrdia'' in Catalan) is a 17th-century bastion fortification located above the town of ''Le Perthus'', in the Pyrénées-Orientales ''département'' of southern France. Hi ...

'' (panoramic hill road to the fortress), ''Carrer del Dalt'', ''Rue du Mas Rimbau'', ''Calle del Correc'' (binational) and ''Rue de l'Église''. It lies 6 km (4 mi) from

, 14 km (9 mi) from

Céret Céret (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales Departments of France, department in southern France. It is the capital of the historic Comarques of Catalonia, Catalan comarca of Vallespir. Geography The town lies in ...

, 28 km (17 mi) from

Figueres Figueres (; ) is the capital city of Alt Empordà county, in the Girona region, Catalonia, Spain. The town is the birthplace of artist Salvador Dalí, and houses the Dalí Theatre and Museum, a large museum designed by Dalí himself which att ...

, 34 km (21 mi) from

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ; ) is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales departments of France, department in Southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the Me ...

, 64 km (40 mi) from

Girona Girona (; ) is the capital city of the Province of Girona in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 106,476 in 2024, but the p ...

and 161 km (100 mi) from

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. File:Le Perthus and Els Límits map.png, Map of the twin villages File:Map commune FR insee code 66137.png, Map of Le Perthus and its surrounding communes

Climate

On average, Le Perthus experiences 8.6 days per year with a minimum temperature below , no days per year with a minimum temperature below , 0.1 days per year with a maximum temperature below , and 41.0 days per year with a maximum temperature above . The record high temperature was on 28 June 2019, while the record low temperature was on 9 February 2012.

Toponymy

The name appears as ''Pertusium'' in 1306 and as ''Lo Pertus'' in 1343. Its origin is from the Latin ''pertusum'' meaning an ''opening'' in the mountain. Jean Sagnes (dir.), Le pays catalan, t. 2, Pau, Société nouvelle d'éditions régionales, 1985, The name in Catalan is El Pertús.

History

In the early 14th century, Le Perthus was a property of the counts of

Roussillon Roussillon ( , , ; , ; ) was a historical province of France that largely corresponded to the County of Roussillon and French Cerdagne, part of the County of Cerdagne of the former Principality of Catalonia. It is part of the region of ' ...

and

Empúries Empúries ( ) was an ancient Greek city on the Mediterranean coast of Catalonia, Spain. The city Ἐμπόριον (, Emporion, meaning "trading place", ''cf.'' emporion) was founded in 575 BC by Greeks from Phocaea. After the invasion o ...

. Following the

Treaty of the Pyrenees The Treaty of the Pyrenees(; ; ) was signed on 7 November 1659 and ended the Franco-Spanish War that had begun in 1635. Negotiations were conducted and the treaty was signed on Pheasant Island, situated in the middle of the Bidasoa River on ...

in 1659, the town represented the border with

. Le Perthus first became a commune on 1 February 1837, by uniting the communes of

Les Cluses Les Cluses (, before 1984: ''L'Ecluse'')Décret du 13 novemb ...

and

L'Albère L'Albère (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales Departments of France, department in southern France. Geography Localisation L'Albère is located in the canton of Vallespir-Albères and in the arrondissement of C� ...

. But because of too many protests from the people of those communes, they were separated on 29 November 1837. It was then decided many years later to make Le Perthus a commune in itself again. This time, small parts of territory only were taken from Les Cluses and L'Albère, and the village of Le Perthus once again became a commune on 29 April 1851. Municipal elections had already been organised in 1848 and quickly cancelled as it appeared that the mayor and the deputy-mayor had too many family ties with several of the municipal councillors, which is forbidden by French law. In the 20th century Le Perthus was the site of a camp housing Republican escapees from

at the end of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

Population

Economy

Le Perthus is a border town, partly in

and partly in France, situated on the Route Nationale RN9. The frontier passes through part of the main street. The Spanish part is almost entirely devoted to the sale of alcohol, tobacco and other goods which are considerably cheaper than in France, resulting in the town being crowded with bargain hunters from France. In earlier times it was a convenient centre of

contraband Contraband (from Medieval French ''contrebande'' "smuggling") is any item that, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold. It comprises goods that by their nature are considered too dangerous or offensive in the eyes of the leg ...

Places of interest

is located on a hilltop above Le Perthus. *

Le Perthus Pyramid Le Perthus Pyramid (), also referred to as and locally as Bofill's Pyramid, is a work of landscape architecture designed by Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura at Le Perthus, France. It is located on the side of the A9 autoroute, A9 motorway, ...

was erected near the motorway in the mid-1970s.

References

External links

Le Perthus map
on

Google Maps Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panorama, interactive panoramic views of streets (Google Street View, Street View ...

Webpage about Fort de Bellegarde in Le Perthus
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perthus Communes of Pyrénées-Orientales Divided cities France–Spain border crossings