The Col du Pourtalet, El Portalet or Portalet d'Aneu is a

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human a ...

and border crossing in the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...

, between

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. The pass reaches an elevation of , and links the

Ossau The Ossau Valley (French: ''Vallée d'Ossau''; Gascon: ''Aussau'' / ''la vath d'Aussau'') is a valley of the French Pyrénées, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques ''département''. Administration 18 communes belong to the Valley: Arudy, Aste-Béo ...

and

Tena TENA is a Sweden, Swedish-based brand of Essity that specializes in products for adults with urinary incontinence, urinary or fecal incontinence, such as pads and diapers. TENA also produces a youth diaper brand for teenagers and larger childre ...

valleys. The road across the pass is known as the A-136 on the Spanish side, and links to

Biescas Biescas () is a municipality of northeastern Spain close to the border with France, in the midst of the Pyrenees in the province of Huesca. The name seems to provide from the term ''bizka'', which means "hill" in a Proto-Indo-European language. T ...

and Huesca. On the French side the D934 road connects the pass to the towns of

Laruns Laruns (; oc, Laruntz) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. It is situated at the confluence of two mountain streams, the Gave d'Ossau and its tributary, the Valentin. Formerly part of the province ...

Oloron-Sainte-Marie Oloron-Sainte-Marie (; oc, Auloron e Senta Maria; eu, Oloroe-Donamaria) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine (before 2015: Aquitaine), southwestern France. History The town was founded by the ...

and Pau. The pass is kept open in the winter, but in case of heavy snowfall may be closed for a couple of days. Due to the Schengen Agreement the checkpoint is not functional nowadays. The French side of the pass falls within the ''commune'' of Laruns in the ''département'' of Pyrénées-Atlantiques, whilst the Spanish side is within the municipality of Sallent de Gállego within the province of Huesca.

References

Mountain passes of the Pyrenees Mountain passes of Nouvelle-Aquitaine Mountain passes of Aragon Geography of the Province of Huesca Landforms of Pyrénées-Atlantiques Transport in Nouvelle-Aquitaine Transport in Aragon France–Spain border crossings {{PyrénéesAtlantiques-geo-stub

See also

References