Els Límits () is a Spanish village, a civil parish of the municipality of La Jonquera, situated in the

province of Girona Girona (; es, Gerona ; french: Gérone) is a province of Spain, in the northeastern part of the autonomous community of Catalonia. It is bordered on the northwest by the province of Lleida, on the southwest by the province of Barcelona, on the ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

, in

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 ...

. As of 2005 its population was of 115. Its

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

name is Los Límites.

History

The origins of the division of the village go back to the 17th century when, with the

Treaty of the Pyrenees The Treaty of the Pyrenees (french: Traité des Pyrénées; es, Tratado de los Pirineos; ca, Tractat dels Pirineus) was signed on 7 November 1659 on Pheasant Island, and ended the Franco-Spanish War that had begun in 1635. Negotiations were ...

(after the 1635-1659 Franco-Spanish War), the frontier line 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

was established along the mountain range of 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 ...

Geography

Els Límits, which name means "''The Border''", is situated on the borders with

Languedoc-Roussillon Languedoc-Roussillon (; oc, Lengadòc-Rosselhon ; ca, Llenguadoc-Rosselló) is a former administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, it joined with the region of Midi-Pyrénées to become Occitania. It comprised five departments, and ...

(

), close to the historical region of

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

. Its contiguous French

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 inter ...

Le Perthus Le Perthus (, ca, El Pertús, ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Natives of Le Pertus are called ''Perthusiens'' and, in 2016, there were 586 inhabitants. Le Perthus is also one of French territories on th ...

(a municipality in the

Pyrénées-Orientales Pyrénées-Orientales (; ca, Pirineus Orientals ; oc, Pirenèus Orientals ; ), also known as Northern Catalonia, is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France, adjacent to the northern Spanish frontier and the Mediterranean Sea. ...

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

), is situated in the north and west side of the urban area. Also part of the main road, ''Avinguda d'Espanya'', is both in France and Spain; and its western side (in Le Perthus) is named ''Avenue de France''.Map, pictures and infos on "Fronterasblog"
/ref> Out of the main road, in which is situated the checkpoint, the other principal roads are ''Carrer del Doctor Subiros'', ''Calle del Correc'' (binational), ''Carrer de Fàtima'' and ''Carrer d'Hannibal''. It lies 5 km (3 mi) from La Jonquera, 27 km (17 mi) from

Figueres Figueres (, ; , es, Figueras, ) is the capital of the ''comarca'' of Alt Empordà, in the province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. The town is the birthplace of artist Salvador Dalí, and houses the Teatre-Museu Gala Salvador Dalí, a large museu ...

, 35 km (22 mi) from

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ca, Perpinyà ; es, Perpiñán ; it, Perpignano ) is the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the ...

/ Perpinyà, 63 km (39 mi) from

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan language, Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter River, Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in ...

and 160 km (99 mi) from

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern 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 ci ...

Gallery

File:Le Perthus 2011 02.jpg, The Sanctuary of Fàtima File:Le Perthus 2011 04.jpg, Frontier line on the central "Avenue de France" (Le Perthus, right) / "Avinguda d'Espanya" (Els Límits, left) File:Le Perthus 2011 06.jpg, The international road "Rue du Petit Pont" (Le Perthus, left) / "Carrer del Còrrec" (Els Límits, right)

Economy

As a border town between Spain and France, it is largely composed by trade buildings and it is almost entirely devoted to the sale of alcohol, tobacco and other goods which are considerably cheaper than in France. In earlier times, as Le Perthus, it was a convenient centre of

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

Transport

Els Límits, not served by the

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

, is crossed by the national road

N-II N-II was the former name for the Route Nacional from Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million ...

, which continues as

Route nationale 9 The Route nationale 9, or ''RN 9'', was a trunk road ( nationale) in France between Moulins and the frontier with Spain. Reclassification Much of the route of the RN 9 has now been/or in the process of being upgraded or replaced by the A75 autor ...

(RN9) entering in French territory. The adjacent motorway, AP-7 (La Jonquera-

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...

- Vera), continues as A9 (Le Perthus-

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

) in France. The nearest motorway's exits are "La Jonquera" (AP-7) and "

Le Boulou Le Boulou (; ca, El Voló ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. It is situated 12 km from the Spanish border. Geography Localisation The town of Le Boulou is located in the canton of Vallespir-Alb� ...

" (A9).

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Els Limits Localities of Spain Populated places in Alt Empordà Divided cities France–Spain border crossings