Le Perthus is situated in the canton of Vallespir-Albères and the arrondissement of Céret, in the historical region of Vallespir, on the borders with Catalonia, Spain. Its contiguous Spanish twin town, Els Límits (a parish of the commune of La Jonquera, in the Province of Girona), 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.[4] 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 (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 La Jonquera, 14 km (9 mi) from Céret, 28 km (17 mi) from Figueres, 34 km (21 mi) from Perpignan, 64 km (40 mi) from Girona and 161 km (100 mi) from Barcelona.
Map of the twin villages
Map of Le Perthus and its surrounding communes
Climate
On average, Le Perthus experiences 8.6 days per year with a minimum temperature below 0 °C (32.0 °F), no days per year with a minimum temperature below −10 °C (14.0 °F), 0.1 days per year with a maximum temperature below 0 °C (32.0 °F), and 41.0 days per year with a maximum temperature above 30 °C (86.0 °F). The record high temperature was 41.6 °C (106.9 °F) on 28 June 2019, while the record low temperature was −6.0 °C (21.2 °F) on 9 February 2012.[5]
Climate data for Le Perthus (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1989–present)
Le Perthus first became a commune on 1 February 1837, by uniting the communes of Les Cluses and L'Albère. 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.[8]·[6] 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.[9]
Le Perthus is a border town, partly in Spain 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.
^ ab(in French) Jean Sagnes (dir.), Le pays catalan, t. 2, Pau, Société nouvelle d'éditions régionales, 1985, ISBN2904610014
^(in French) Institut d'Estudis Catalans, Université de Perpignan, Nomenclàtor toponímic de la Catalunya del Nord, Barcelone, 2007
^ abCárdenas, Fabricio (2014). 66 petites histoires du Pays Catalan [66 Little Stories of Catalan Country] (in French). Perpignan: Ultima Necat. ISBN978-2-36771-006-8. OCLC893847466.
^Cardenas, Fabricio (16 August 2014). "Elus invalidés au Perthus en 1850". Vieux papiers des Pyrénées-Orientales (in French). Retrieved 5 March 2016.
^Beevor, Antony (2001). The Spanish Civil War. London: Cassell Military Paperbacks. p. 394. ISBN0-304-35840-1.
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