Le Tech El Tec
Commune
An overall view of Le Tech
Location of Le Tech
Le Tech Show map of France Le Tech Show map of Occitanie
Coordinates: 42°24′41″N 2°32′42″E / 42.4114°N 2.545°E / 42.4114; 2.545
Country	France
Region	Occitania
Department	Pyrénées-Orientales
Arrondissement	Céret
Canton	Le Canigou
Intercommunality	Haut Vallespir
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Guillaume Cervantes^[1]
Area ¹	25.18 km² (9.72 sq mi)
Population (2021)^[2]	98
• Density	3.9/km² (10/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	66206 /66230
Elevation	420–2,721 m (1,378–8,927 ft) (avg. 520 m or 1,710 ft)
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Le Tech (French pronunciation: [lə tɛk] ^ⓘ; Catalan: El Tec) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. It is part of the historical Vallespir comarca.

Geography

Localisation

Le Tech is located east of Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste, in the canton of Le Canigou and in the arrondissement of Céret.

Neighbouring communes

Land relief

Elevation ranges from 420 to 2721 meters.

Hydrography

The territory of Le Tech is shaped by the valley of the river Coumelade and the village itself is located at the confluence of the Coumelade and the river Tech.

Toponymy

Le Tech takes its name from the Tech river which runs through the village.

History

The commune of Le Tech was created on March 19, 1862, by a piece of territory being separated from Prats-de-Mollo.^[3]

Government and politics

Mayors

Mayor	Term start	Term end
Jean-Michel Coste	1971	1980
Raphaël Sales	1980	1989
Roger Gineste	1989	?
Claude Puitg	2001	2008
Guillaume Cervantes	2008

Population

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1866	554	—
1872	521	−1.02%
1876	543	+1.04%
1881	498	−1.72%
1886	508	+0.40%
1891	450	−2.40%
1896	458	+0.35%
1901	470	+0.52%
1906	557	+3.45%
1911	512	−1.67%
1921	439	−1.53%
1926	449	+0.45%
1931	410	−1.80%

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1936	370	−2.03%
1946	249	−3.88%
1954	252	+0.15%
1962	218	−1.80%
1968	152	−5.83%
1975	126	−2.64%
1982	124	−0.23%
1990	124	+0.00%
1999	84	−4.24%
2007	86	+0.29%
2012	103	+3.67%
2017	95	−1.60%

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

Source: EHESS^[4] and INSEE^[5]

Sites of interest

Saint Mary church : the ancient church from the 17th c., located near the river, was destroyed by floods in 1940 and a new one was then built above the village.
St Guillem of Combret Hermitage
Sainte Cécile de Cos church
Cos tower
Saint Côme et Saint-Damien de La Llau church

References

^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 2 December 2020.
^ "Populations légales 2021". The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
^ Jean-Pierre Pélissier, Paroisses et communes de France : dictionnaire d'histoire administrative et démographique, vol. 66 : Pyrénées-Orientales, Paris, CNRS, 1986, 378 p. (ISBN 2-222-03821-9)
^ Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Le Tech, EHESS (in French).
^ Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE