La Jonquera () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality ...

in the ''

comarca A ''comarca'' (, or , or ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a " ...

'' of l'Alt Empordà, in

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 no ...

, Spain. It is situated next to the border with

Northern Catalonia Northern Catalonia, North Catalonia, ; french: Catalogne (du) Nord ; oc, Catalonha (del) Nòrd; es, Cataluña (del) Norte) French Catalonia or Roussillon refers to the Catalan-speaking and Catalan-culture territory ceded to France by Spain t ...

, nowadays

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

, opposite the municipality of Le Perthus.

History

The area has always been an important pass through 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 ...

. A contemporary motorway runs not far from the ancient

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman R ...

, the ''

Via Augusta The ''Via Augusta'' (also known as the ''Via Herculea'' or ''Via Exterior'') was the longest and busiest of the major roads built by the Romans in ancient Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula). According to historian Pierre Sillières, who has super ...

''. Not far from there is an altar erected by

Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...

at the Coll de Panissars. La Jonquera was the site of a conflict involving the retreating French crusaders in 1285 that ended in their defeat.

Geography

Civil parishes

La Jonquera (2,888 inhabitants in the village) has 4 civil parishes (''poblaciones''). The village of Els Límits is situated on the French-Spanish border, contiguous to its 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.

Interesting places

* Church of Santa Maria. * Ruins of Santa Maria de Panissars (mediaeval Benedictine monastery), in the coll de Panissars. * Ruins of the castell de Rocabertí. * Castell de Canadal, with the church of Santa Cristina or Sant Jaume de Canadal (c. IX). * Romanesque churches (Sant Pere del Pla de l'Arca and Sant Martí del Forn del Vidre (10th century), and Santa Llúcia, Sant Miquel de Solans and Sant Julià dels Torts (12th century). * Porta Catalana (work of

Josep Lluís Sert Josep Lluís Sert i López (; 1 July 190215 March 1983) was a Spanish architect and city planner. Biography Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Sert showed keen interest in the works of his uncle, the painter Josep Maria Sert, and of Gaudí. He ...

), in the border. * Several

megalithic A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea. The ...

monuments (

dolmen A dolmen () or portal tomb is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the early Neolithic (40003000 BCE) and were so ...

s and

menhir A menhir (from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large human-made upright stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be fou ...

s).

Prostitution

The New York Times reported that one of Europe's largest brothels opened in La Jonquera in 2010, taking advantage of Europe's open borders and "lax laws". Many of its clients reportedly come from France, where prostitution was made illegal in April 2016. According to the paper, "Advocates and police officials say that most of the women are controlled by illegal networks — they are modern-day slaves."

Forest fires

The area around La Jonquera was seriously affected by fatal wildfires that devastated large swathes of forestry in northern Catalonia in July 2012.

Demography

References

* Panareda Clopés, Josep Maria; Rios Calvet, Jaume; Rabella Vives, Josep Maria (1989). ''Guia de Catalunya'', Barcelona: Caixa de Catalunya. (Spanish). (Catalan).

External links

Ajuntament de La Jonquera

Government data pages
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jonquera, La Municipalities in Alt Empordà Populated places in Alt Empordà