Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Commune of Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste Church in Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste
Location
Longitude	02°28'47" E
Latitude	42°24'17" N
Administration
Country	France
Region	Languedoc-Roussillon
Department	Pyrénées-Orientales
Arrondissement	Céret
Canton	Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste
Mayor	Bernard Remedi (2001-2008)
Statistics
Altitude	575 m–2,693 m (avg. 735 m)
Land area¹	145.09 km²
Population² (1999)	1,080
- Density (1999)	7.4/km²
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code	66150/ 66230
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 mi² or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
² Population sans doubles comptes: single count of residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel).

Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste (catalan: Prats de Molló i la Presta) is a commune of the Pyrénées-Orientales département, in southwestern France.

[edit] History

During the Spanish Civil War it was the location of a refuge financed by the pacifist organisation War Resisters' International and run by Professor José Brocca. The refuge housed orphans and widows who had escaped over the Pyrenees. After the Civil War Professor Brocca refused to leave until all the children had been returned to safety in Spain; by this time his own life was seriously threatened by the Nazis occupying France and their sympathisers. He was offered asylum in Britain, but was arrested before he could respond to this offer. Eventually, with the help of the French Resistance he escaped to Mexico, where his wife and one of his sons later joined him. His other children settled in Wales, Sweden and Spain. Professor Brocca never saw Spain again and died in Mexico in 1950.