Argelès-sur-Mer

Argelès-sur-Mer (Catalan: Argelers de la Marenda or simply Argelers) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.

It lies near Perpignan.

Geography

Argelès-sur-Mer is located in the canton of Argelès-sur-Mer and in the arrondissement of Céret.

Argelès-sur-Mer is located in the coast sector of the Côte Vermeille at the foot of the Albères mountain range, just a short drive away from the Spanish border. Argelès-sur-Mer is the longest beach of Pyrenées Orientales.

History

During World War II, Argelès-sur-Mer was the location of a French concentration camp, the infamous Camp de concentration d'Argelès-sur-Mer, where up to 100,000 defeated Spanish Republicans were interned by a windy beach in abysmal sanitary conditions by the French government after the defeat of the Spanish Republic. The refugees streamed to the camp beginning in the winter of 1938/39 after the collapse of the Catalonian front following the rebel offensive.

Government and politics

Mayors