Village
Portbou is the last village on the Catalan coast before France, at the north-eastern tip of the Alt Empordà, where the Sierra de l'Albera reaches the Mediterranean Sea. Its name may come from the bous, trawling fishing boats that took shelter in its bay during tramontana storms, although it has also been linked to the cliffs or to Mediterranean seals. A border area since 1659, a railway line with an international station was inaugurated here in 1872, replaced in 1929 by the current one, with its large iron-and-glass canopy. On 27 September 1940 the German philosopher Walter Benjamin died, under unclear circumstances, at the Hotel Francia in Portbou; he is remembered today by the "Passatges" memorial. Until 1934 Colera was part of the municipality.
Monument
A 1994 sculpture-installation by artist Dani Karavan, a passageway cut into the rock of Portbou cemetery in memory of philosopher Walter Benjamin, who died in the village in 1940.
Monument
Portbou station, owned by Adif, lies on the Barcelona-Girona-Portbou line and has the status of an international station, being the standard-gauge terminus for SNCF trains, connecting with the neighbouring French station of Cerbère. It came into service on 20 January 1878, on the section built between Figueres and Portbou by the Compañía de los Ferrocarriles de Tarragona a Barcelona y Francia. In 1929, for the Barcelona International Exposition, the original building was replaced by a larger one, inspired by Barcelona's Estació de França and fitted with a large iron-and-glass canopy from the workshops of Joan Torras i Guardiola, known as the Catalan Eiffel. Transferred to Adif in 2005, it recorded 79,000 passengers in 2016.
Nature
The Les Tres Platgetes beach is a natural beach in Portbou, in the Alt Empordà, located on the north side of the bay of Portbou, between cliffs, about 200 metres north of the town. Facing southeast, it is sheltered from the tramontane wind, and it is about 100 metres long and 20 metres wide, with coarse, dark-coloured sand. It is reached by the coastal path from the Platja Petita of Portbou, and its name comes from the fact that it occupies one of three small coves separated from each other by rock formations.
Nature
The Platja del Pi is a natural pebble beach in the municipality of Portbou (Alt Empordà), located between cliffs, on the north side of the bay of Portbou, 500 m north of the town; it is the first Catalan beach accessible once the border with France has been crossed, both by the N-260 road and by the coastal path from Portbou, passing the Tres Platgetes beach. Facing south, it is very sheltered when the tramontane wind blows. It is 45 m long and 10 m wide, has no services, and nudism is common there; its seabed makes it suitable for diving.
Activity
A stretch of the coastal path following cliffs and coves between Portbou and Colera, an old customs-guards' track with spectacular sea views.
Curiosity
A memorial by artist Dani Karavan, a corten-steel passage cut into the cliff with 87 steps down towards the sea, honouring the philosopher Walter Benjamin, who took his own life in Portbou in 1940 while fleeing the Nazis.
Curiosity
The túnel dels Belitres is a 1,064-metre railway tunnel that crosses the Pyrenees between Portbou and the French municipality of Cervera de la Marenda, beneath the pass of the same name. It was built in 1876, on the line from Narbonne to Portbou, as a result of the 1864 agreement between France and Spain. Between 28 January and 9 February 1939, during the Retirada, some 35,000 Spanish republican refugees crossed it on foot fleeing Franco's troops; on 1 February, a refugee gave birth to a girl inside the tunnel while waiting to cross into France, and died shortly after the birth. Two tracks of different gauge run through the tunnel, standard gauge for French trains and Iberian gauge for Spanish ones, with six mining furnaces dug along its route.
Historical milestone
The German philosopher, a fugitive from occupied France by the paths of the Albera, took his own life in 1940 in an inn in Portbou fearing that the Spanish police would send him back to the border; he was buried in the village cemetery.