Argelès-sur-Mer
| Argelès-sur-Mer | ||
|---|---|---|
| 
 The beach at Argelès-sur-Mer  | ||
  | ||
![]() Argelès-sur-Mer  | ||
| 
 Location within Languedoc-Roussillon region  ![]() Argelès-sur-Mer  | ||
| Coordinates: 42°32′42″N 3°01′25″E / 42.5449°N 3.0235°ECoordinates: 42°32′42″N 3°01′25″E / 42.5449°N 3.0235°E | ||
| Country | France | |
| Region | Languedoc-Roussillon-Midi-Pyrénées | |
| Department | Pyrénées-Orientales | |
| Arrondissement | Céret | |
| Canton | Argelès-sur-Mer | |
| Intercommunality | Communauté de communes des Albères et de la Côte Vermeille | |
| Government | ||
| • Mayor (2016–2020) | Antoine Parra | |
| Area1 | 58.67 km2 (22.65 sq mi) | |
| Population (2012)2 | 9,901 | |
| • Density | 170/km2 (440/sq mi) | |
| INSEE/Postal code | 66008 / 66700 | |
| Elevation | 
0–1,099 m (0–3,606 ft)  (avg. 16 m or 52 ft)  | |
| 
 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once. | ||
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.[1]
Government and politics
Mayors

| Mayor[2] · [3] | Term start | Term end | 
|---|---|---|
| Assiscle Bech | 1790 | 1791 | 
| Jean Grando | 1791 | 1793 | 
| Joseph Arman | 1793 | 1794 | 
| Jean Matignon | 1794 | 1794 | 
| Damien Padallé | 1794 | 1796 | 
| Bonaventure Verges | 1796 | 1796 | 
| François-Xavier Boluix | 1796 | 1798 | 
| Joseph Arman | 1798 | 1799 | 
| François-Xavier Boluix | 1799 | 1800 | 
| Marc Surjus | 1800 | 1813 | 
| Côme Ferran | 1813 | june 1815 | 
| Paul Pujas[4] | june 1815 | ? 1815 | 
| Jean Azéma | 1815 | 1816 | 
| Isidore Ferrer | 1816 | 1821 | 
| Bonaventure Verges | 1821 | 1821 | 
| Pierre Padallé | 1821 | 1827 | 
| Bonaventure Julia | 1827 | 1829 | 
| Joseph Arman | 1829 | 1830 | 
| Pierre Padallé | 1830 | 1831 | 
| Joseph Arman | 1831 | 1837 | 
| Jean Germain Pujol | 1837 | 1840 | 
| Alphonse Sebe | 1840 | 1848 | 
| François Sine | 1848 | 1848 | 
| Assiscle Padallé Bocamy | 1848 | 1848 | 
| François Padallé Siné | 1848 | 1848 | 
| Thomas Bech | 1848 | 1852 | 
| Joseph Azema | 1852 | 1855 | 
| Germain Barbie | 1855 | 1865 | 
| Côme Ferran Comes | 1865 | 1870 | 
| Joseph Baylet | 1870 | 1870 | 
| Étienne Pujol | 1870 | 1874 | 
| Jacques Lanquine | 1874 | 1876 | 
| Étienne Pujol | 1876 | 1877 | 
| Michel Moret | 1877 | 1878 | 
| Étienne Pujol | 1878 | 1890 | 
| Jean Padallé Bocamy | 1890 | 1892 | 
| Marc Surjus-Coste | 1892 | 1893 | 
| Pierre Moreto | 1893 | 1902 | 
| Marc Surjus-Coste | 1902 | 1908 | 
| Louis Courtais | 1908 | 1912 | 
| Côme Anglade | 1912 | 1914 | 
| Vincent Rouzaud | 1914 | 1915 | 
| Dieudonné Vinyes | 1915 | 1918 | 
| Côme Anglade | 1918 | 1919 | 
| Louis Courtais | 1919 | 1922 | 
| Frédéric Trescases | 1944 | 1945 | 
| Joseph Farre | 1945 | 1947 | 
| Germain Farre | 1947 | 1947 | 
| Frédéric Trescases | 1947 | 1953 | 
| Gaston Pams | 1953 | 1981 | 
| Isidore Fourriques | 1981 | 1983 | 
| Jean Carrère | 1983 | 2001 | 
| Pierre Aylagas | 2001 | 2016 | 
| Antoine Parra | 2016 | 
Population and society
Demography
| Historical population | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | ±% | 
| 1793 | 847 | — | 
| 1800 | 1,064 | +25.6% | 
| 1806 | 1,173 | +10.2% | 
| 1821 | 1,401 | +19.4% | 
| 1831 | 1,478 | +5.5% | 
| 1836 | 1,964 | +32.9% | 
| 1841 | 2,136 | +8.8% | 
| 1846 | 2,251 | +5.4% | 
| 1851 | 2,325 | +3.3% | 
| 1856 | 2,447 | +5.2% | 
| 1861 | 2,456 | +0.4% | 
| 1866 | 2,537 | +3.3% | 
| 1872 | 2,600 | +2.5% | 
| 1876 | 2,833 | +9.0% | 
| 1881 | 3,134 | +10.6% | 
| 1886 | 3,303 | +5.4% | 
| 1891 | 3,413 | +3.3% | 
| 1896 | 3,307 | −3.1% | 
| 1901 | 3,358 | +1.5% | 
| 1906 | 2,913 | −13.3% | 
| 1911 | 2,837 | −2.6% | 
| 1921 | 2,851 | +0.5% | 
| 1926 | 2,835 | −0.6% | 
| 1931 | 2,966 | +4.6% | 
| 1936 | 2,945 | −0.7% | 
| 1946 | 2,968 | +0.8% | 
| 1954 | 2,907 | −2.1% | 
| 1962 | 3,659 | +25.9% | 
| 1968 | 5,022 | +37.3% | 
| 1975 | 5,100 | +1.6% | 
| 1982 | 5,723 | +12.2% | 
| 1990 | 7,188 | +25.6% | 
| 1999 | 9,069 | +26.2% | 
| 2006 | 9,928 | +9.5% | 
| 2009 | 10,033 | +1.1% | 
Sports
The Étoile sportive catalane is the rugby union club of Argelès-sur-Mer.
Culture
Sites of interest



- Buildings
 
- Dolmen of the Collets de Cotlliure (Monument historique)
 - Dolmen of the Cova de l'Alarb (Monument historique)
 - Dolmen of Sant Pere dels Forquets
 - Chapel of Saint-Jérôme d'Argelès, from the 10th century
 - Church of Saint-Ferréol de la Pava (Monument historique), from the 10th century
 - Parish church of Notre-Dame del Prat, from the 14th to the 20th centuries (Monument historique)
 - Church of Sainte-Marie de Torreneules, from the 8th to the 10th centuries
 - Abbey of Valbonne, from the 13th to the 14th centuries
 - Church of Saint-Laurent-du-Mont, from the 12th century (Monument historique)
 - Church of Saint-Martin-et-Sainte-Croix, from the 11th or 12th century, and the old village of Taxo d'Avall (both Monument historique)
 - Church of Saint-Pierre dels Forquets, pre-romanesque ruins
 - Castle of Pujols, from the 13th century (Monument historique)
 - Massane tower, in the Albera Massif, from the 13th century
 - Castle of Valmy, from the 19th century
 - Casa de l'Albera, museum about the Albera Massif
 
- Natural sites
 
- National nature reserve of the Mas Larrieu
 - National nature reserve of the Massane forest
 - The Bois des pins is the historical pine forest located near the beach front. Created in the 1860s by the General Council of the Pyrénées-Orientales, it still has to this day over 8,000 centenarian pines.[5]
 
Notable people
- Marcelle Narbonne (1898-2012) : supercentenarian who lived and died in Argelès-sur-Mer.
 - David Ensor (1906-1987) : British lawyer, actor, author and Labour Party politician, lived and died in Argelès-sur-Mer.
 - Marc Lièvremont (1968-) : former rugby union footballer raised in Argelès-sur-Mer and former member of the Étoile sportive catalane club.
 
See also
External links
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to Argelès-sur-Mer. | 
References
- ↑ Corazón Helado de 1939 - Los exilios republicanos
 - ↑ bislyjp.cpm, Marc Surjus : premier grand maire d'Argelès, mayors from 1790 to 1813.
 - ↑ Uncomplete list of mayors on MairesGenWeb
 - ↑ (French) Fabricio Cardenas, Vieux papiers des Pyrénées-Orientales, Argelès, 11 juin 1815, 12 january 2014
 - ↑ Cárdenas, Fabricio (2014). 66 petites histoires du Pays Catalan [66 Little Stories of Catalan Country] (in French). Perpignan: Ultima Necat. ISBN 978-2-36771-006-8. OCLC 893847466.
 
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