La Jonquera

La Jonquera municipality
Town center
coat of arms	Map of Spain
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Catalonia
Province :	Girona
Comarca :	Alt Empordà
Coordinates	42 ° 25 '  N , 2 ° 53'  E Coordinates: 42 ° 25 '  N , 2 ° 53'  E
Height :	110  msnm
Area :	57 km²
Residents :	3,290 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	57.72 inhabitants / km²
Municipality number  ( INE ):	17086
administration
Official language :	Castilian , Catalan
Mayor :	Sònia Martínez July
Website :	www.lajonquera.cat

La Jonquera (no longer the official Spanish name La Junquera ) is a Catalan municipality in the province of Girona in northeastern Spain . It is located in the Pyrenees in the Comarca Alt Empordà .

Geographical location

La Jonquera is about 57 kilometers north of the provincial capital Girona in a strategically important location on the border with France . Fortifications such as the Requesens Fortress and the Catalan Gate indicate its importance as a border town in Roman times , in the Middle Ages and today . There is also the border crossing to France. The Via Augusta used to pass the Pyrenees here at a convenient pass, today the N II national road and the Autopista AP-7 motorway (part of European route 15 ) run along nearby . This means that almost all road traffic to the Costa Brava flows through these road links .

history

Middle Ages, modern times

In 1285 the southern expansion of the French royal troops ended here. The Peace of the Pyrenees of 1659 between Spain and France established the border at La Jonquera, which is still important for the place today. For centuries the place was a center of trade, but also of smuggling between Spain and France.

present

The Spanish La Jonquera forms a twin town with the French Le Perthus , in which the tax-privileged area Els Limits has developed into a magnet for French buyers on the Spanish side. Every day, thousands of French cars pass the place where alcohol, tobacco or other goods as well as sexual services are bought cheaply. On October 21, 2010, what was then Europe's largest brothel with 80 rooms was opened; Sex workers, especially from Romania, worked there. The building permit was obtained in court against the will of the municipal council and the mayor. The prostitution in France is highly regulated since 2016 and banned brothels.

Web links

Commons : La Jonquera  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Topographic map and data of the Generalitat at La Jonquera
• Museum Memorial de l'Exili MUME in La Jonquera

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cifras oficiales de población resultantes de la revisión del Padrón municipal a 1 de enero . Population statistics from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (population update).
2. ↑ Europe's largest brothel opened in Spain. ORF.
3. ↑ see also spiegel.tv