L'Albère (; ) is a commune in the

Pyrénées-Orientales Pyrénées-Orientales (; ; ; ), also known as Northern Catalonia, is a departments of France, department of the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southern France, adjacent to the northern Spain, Spanish ...

department in southern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Geography

Localisation

L'Albère is located in the

canton of Vallespir-Albères The Canton of Vallespir-Albères is a French canton of Pyrénées-Orientales department, in Occitanie. At the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015, the canton was created including 8 communes from the canton of Céret ...

and in the

arrondissement of Céret The arrondissement of Céret is an arrondissement of France in the Pyrénées-Orientales department ( Northern Catalonia) in the Occitanie region. It has 64 communes. Its population is 134,629 (2021), and its area is . Composition The commune ...

Toponymy

The name of L'Albère is clearly issued from the Albera Massif in which it is located. Although always plural in French (''Albères'') concerning the mountain range, the name remains singular through the ages (''L'Albère'') for the commune. On the contrary, in Catalan, the name has always been singular for both the mountain (''Serra de l'Albera'') and the place (''L'Albera'').

History

Early settlements of population grew near the two primitive churches: Saint Martin, already named in 844 (''cella Sancti Martini de Monte Furcato'') and Saint John, known since 1089 (''ecclesiae Sancti Ioannis de Albera''). The hamlets of Saint Martin and Saint John both still exist nowadays, each with its church.

Government and politics

Canton

In 1790, the commune of L'Albère is included into the canton of Argelès, then part of the Céret district. It is moved to the canton of Laroque in 1793 and back to the canton of Argelès in 1801, before being finally included in the canton of Céret in 1947. Following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015, L'Albère is now part of the

.''Légifrance''
Décret n°2014-262 du 26 février 2014 portant délimitation des cantons dans le département des Pyrénées-Orientales.
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Mayors

Population and society

Demography

Education

There is no school in L'Albère. The nearest is in

Le Perthus Le Perthus (, , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales Departments of France, department in southern France. Natives of Le Perthus are called ''Perthusiens'' and, in 2021, there were 560 inhabitants. Le Perthus is also on ...

Events

* Patronal feast : 5 August. * Communal feast : 2nd Sunday of August.

Health

There are no doctors in L'Albère. The nearest are in

Sports

L'Albère has several climbing sites.

Sites of interest

* Balma de Na Cristiana : a large dolmen. * Saint-John Church * Saint-Martin Church * Saint-Christopher chapel

References

Communes of Pyrénées-Orientales {{PyrénéesOrientales-geo-stub