Portbou

Portbou municipality
Portbou Bay
coat of arms	Map of Spain
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Catalonia
Province :	Girona
Comarca :	Alt Empordà
Coordinates	42 ° 26 '  N , 3 ° 10'  E Coordinates: 42 ° 26 '  N , 3 ° 10'  E
Height :	28  msnm
Area :	9.27 km²
Residents :	1,075 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	115.97 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	17497
Municipality number  ( INE ):	17138
administration
Mayor :	Josep Lluis Salas i Mallol ( CiU )
Website :	www.portbou.cat

Portbou [ pɔɾˈbɔw ], more rarely and unofficial also Port Bou , is a municipality with 1075 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the Comarca Alt Empordà in Catalonia on the Costa Brava . Portbou is a railway workers place and is located at the southern end of the Golfe du Lion between the mountains at the "Rat Bay". Portbou has a small beach and a marina since 2001 .

geography

The place Portbou is located directly on the Spanish - French border at the southern end of the Mediterranean bay Golfe du Lion . On the Mediterranean coast, in addition to the main beach Platja de Portbou, there are several pebble and sandy beaches in the small bays as well as some water caves. In the sea itself, the two rocky islands Illa de Cob Marí and Illa de Gatillepis rise out of the water.

The small river Ribera de Portbou flows through a five kilometer long valley west of the town and flows into the bay Badia de Portbou , which is part of the Golf du Lion. There are also several mountain passes and mountains in the municipality. The highest mountain is the Puig de Querroig with 672 meters. Other mountains are: Puig de L'Ossetera (558 m), Puig de Collom (547 m), Puig de l'Aliga (527 m), Puig del Falco (375 m), Puig de la Farella (354 m), Puig Pelat (314 m), Puig del Claper (235 m) and Puig Cervera (205.7 m).

history

Due to the Peace of the Pyrenees of 1659 between Spain and France, the border with France was established north of Portbou. Already in 1872 the railway line and the international train station of the place were inaugurated. The current station was opened in 1929 just in time for the world exhibition in Barcelona . The large glass and iron roof of the station was built to a design by the architect Joan Torras i Guardiola .

Tomb for Walter Benjamin

View from the inside of the walkable Walter Benjamin Memorial

In the years 1934-1944 Portbou collection point was German and French emigrants from escape agents such. B. Varian Fry and Lisa Fittko were brought across the border. The German philosopher and literary critic Walter Benjamin fled to the border town under dramatic circumstances on September 25 and 26, 1940, accompanied by Lisa Fittko. The Spanish authorities did not allow the fugitive to enter because of a new decree, but wanted to send him back to France, whereupon Benjamin committed suicide in the Hotel Francia de Portbou on the night of 26-27 September 1940 in order to extradite him escape. The walk-in landscape sculpture Passagen by the Israeli artist Dani Karavan is reminiscent of this . There is also a memorial stone in memory of Walter Benjamin in the Portbou cemetery. In the opera Shadowtime , Benjamin's death was treated musically and scenically by Charles Bernstein (libretto) and Brian Ferneyhough (composition).

politics

Mayor ( Alcalde ) of Portbou is Josep Lluis Salas i Mallol ( CiU ). After the last elections in 2011, the Convergència i Unió (CiU) had six, the Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya (PSC) two seats and the Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) one seat in the local council ( Ajuntament ) .

traffic

Portbou station, the border runs along the ridge visible in the background, 1989

The Portbou Station is - next to the train Irun on the Atlantic coast - the main border station between Spain and France. The transition from French standard gauge to Spanish broad gauge makes it necessary to transfer people and reload freight in Portbou or the neighboring French border station at Cerbère . There is a gauge change facility in Portbou for Talgo trains with specially adapted running gear . On the short section between Portbou and Cerbère there are tracks of both gauges.

With the opening of the standard-gauge high-speed line LGV Perpignan – Figueres, which runs further west, in December 2010, Portbou's importance for international passenger rail traffic declined considerably.

tourism

A hiking trail ends in Portbou that begins in Banyuls-sur-Mer , France , and takes about six hours to follow the escape route used by Lisa and Hans Fittko to help escape during the Nazi dictatorship , the " F- Route ”from Banyuls-sur-Mer to Portbou, Spain. Since June 24, 2007, this path has been officially named "Ruta Walter Benjamin" (French: "Chemin Walter Benjamin") and marked as a historical hiking trail.

Web links

Commons : Portbou  - collection of images, videos and audio files

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. ^ Un "demi-TGV" fonctionnera entre Perpignan et Barcelone dès 2010 , January 9, 2009
3. ↑ Claudia Diemar: Passages in freedom. The "Chemin Walter Benjamin" commemorates the philosopher's flight over the Pyrenees exactly seventy years ago. Berliner Zeitung , September 4, 2010, accessed on February 26, 2015 . 
4. ^ "Reiser": Chemin Walter Benjamin, the F-way. uebersmeer.at, May 19, 2012, accessed on February 26, 2015 . 
5. ↑ Chemin Walter Benjamin: Multimedia guide with extensive background information. February 26, 2015, accessed February 16, 2015 .