Pyrenees-Orientales: Catalan France and the Cote Vermeille
Pyrenees-Orientales occupies the far southwestern corner of France, bordering Spain and the Mediterranean. Perpignan, the prefecture, was the capital of the Kingdom of Majorca in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and retains a strong Catalan identity. Salvador Dali once declared Perpignan's railway station the centre of the universe. The department is officially bilingual in French and Catalan.
Collioure, a fishing village where Matisse and Derain invented Fauvism in 1905, is one of the most painted towns in France. The Cote Vermeille coastline runs south to the Spanish border. Inland, the Tech and Tet valleys lead up to ski stations in the eastern Pyrenees. Font-Romeu hosted pre-Olympic altitude training camps. The department has about 493,000 residents and is growing, driven by retirees and cross-border activity with Catalonia.
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Pyrenees-Orientales occupies the far southwestern corner of France, bordering Spain and the Mediterranean. Perpignan, the prefecture, was the capital of the Kingdom of Majorca in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and retains a strong Catalan identity. Salvador Dali once declared Perpignan's railway station the centre of the universe. The department is officially bilingual in French and Catalan.
Collioure, a fishing village where Matisse and Derain invented Fauvism in 1905, is one of the most painted towns in France. The Cote Vermeille coastline runs south to the Spanish border. Inland, the Tech and Tet valleys lead up to ski stations in the eastern Pyrenees. Font-Romeu hosted pre-Olympic altitude training camps. The department has about 493,000 residents and is growing, driven by retirees and cross-border activity with Catalonia.
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