Arles-sur-Tech (French pronunciation: [aʁl syʁ tɛk] , literally Arles on Tech; Catalan: Arles de Tec) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.[3]

Arles-sur-Tech
Arles
Shops in Arles-sur-Tech, with the Tour Saint-Sauveur in the background
Shops in Arles-sur-Tech, with the Tour Saint-Sauveur in the background
Location of Arles-sur-Tech
Map
Arles-sur-Tech is located in France
Arles-sur-Tech
Arles-sur-Tech
Arles-sur-Tech is located in Occitanie
Arles-sur-Tech
Arles-sur-Tech
Coordinates: 42°27′27″N 2°38′04″E / 42.4575°N 2.6344°E / 42.4575; 2.6344
CountryFrance
RegionOccitania
DepartmentPyrénées-Orientales
ArrondissementCéret
CantonLe Canigou
IntercommunalityCC du Haut Vallespir
Government
 • Mayor (2020–2026) David Planas[1]
Area
1
28.82 km2 (11.13 sq mi)
Population
 (2021)[2]
2,794
 • Density97/km2 (250/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
66009 /66150
Elevation226–1,302 m (741–4,272 ft)
(avg. 300 m or 980 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Geography

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Location

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Arles-sur-Tech is located in the canton of Le Canigou and in the arrondissement of Céret.[3]

Arles-sur-Tech is situated in the southernmost valley in mainland France before Spain, the Vallespir, through which the 84 km (52 mi) long river "Tech" flows. This small town is surrounded by the eastern Pyrenees which dominate the skyline around Arles-sur-Tech. The town sits on the only main road which passes through the valley, the D 115, making it accessible from Spain in the west and the plane of Roussillon and Perpignan in the east. It is located close to the larger and more well-known spa town of Amélie-les-Bains-Palalda.

 
Map of Arles-sur-Tech and its surrounding communes

History

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At the end of the Spanish Civil War Arles-sur-Tech was the site of a camp housing Republican escapees from Spain. It was used as an initial sorting camp.[4]

Government and politics

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Mayors

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Mayor Term start Term end
Jean-Baptiste Serradell 1807 1808
Abdon Desclaus 1808 1813
Jean-Baptiste Serradell[5] 1813 1815
Jean Galangau 1815 1827
Dominique Jofre 1827 1830
Jean Pujade 1830 1832
Etienne Grau 1832 1835
Pierre Mouchart 1835 1837
Jacques Dubois 1837 1839
Jean Serreclare 1839 1840
François Comaills 1840 1848
Etienne Douffiagues 1848 1849
Joseph Boix 1849 1850
Joseph Pallarès 1892 1908
Jean Vilar 1908 1914
Baptiste Pams 1914 1941
Lucien Trenet (father of Charles Trenet) 1941 1942
Pierre Sola 1942 1944
Baptiste Pams 1944 1967
Paul Lavanga 1967 1983
Marcel Charlet 1983 1989
Albert Costa 1989 2001
René Ala 2001 2008
René Bantoure 2008 2020
David Planas 2020 incumbent

International relations

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Arles-sur-Tech is twinned with:

Population

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Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1968 2,760—    
1975 2,945+0.93%
1982 2,889−0.27%
1990 2,837−0.23%
1999 2,700−0.55%
2007 2,719+0.09%
2012 2,671−0.36%
2017 2,705+0.25%
Source: INSEE[7]

Sites of interest

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  • Abbey of Saint Mary : Arles-sur-Tech is best known for its abbey, which allegedly holds the relics of Saints Abdon and Sennen in a sarcophagus called Sainte Tombe, traditionally believed to have been brought from Rome by Abbot Arnulf in the middle of the tenth century.[8] Its waters are traditionally believed to hold miraculous healing properties.[9]
  • The Caixa de Rotllan, a dolmen.
  • Saint-Stephen church
  • Saint-Saviour church
  • Saint-Peter church
  • Holy Cross church
  • The Fou canyon, said to be the world's narrowest.

Bibliography

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  • Abbé Adolphe Crastre, Histoire du martyre des saints Abdon et Sennen, de leurs reliques, de leurs miracles, de leur culte et de l'eau miraculeuse du sarcophage (Amélie-les-Bains, 1932). Facsimile reprint, Nîmes: Les Éditions Lacour-Ollé, 2005. ISBN 2-7504-1045-2

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 2 December 2020.
  2. ^ "Populations légales 2021" (in French). The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
  3. ^ a b INSEE commune file
  4. ^ Beevor, Antony (2006). The Battle for Spain. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. pp. 455 & 456. ISBN 978-0-7538-2165-7.
  5. ^ (in French) Fabricio Cardenas, Vieux papiers des Pyrénées-Orientales, Arles, le 11 juin 1815, 14 january 2014
  6. ^ (in Catalan) Infos on Cubelles municipal website Archived September 21, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE
  8. ^ Joan Evans, Cluniac Art of The Romanesque Period (Cambridge University Press, 1950). Citing L'abbé Joseph Gibrat, Aperçu historique sur l'abbaye d'Arles-sur-Tech, page 15 (Céret, L. Roque, 1922. In-8°, 93 p.).
  9. ^ Milburg Francisco Mansfield, Castles and chateaux of old Navarre and the Basque provinces: including also Foix, Roussillon and Béarn (I. Pitman, 1908).
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