Banyuls-sur-Mer

Banyuls-sur-Mer
Commune

A general view of Banyuls-sur-Mer

Coat of arms
Banyuls-sur-Mer

Coordinates: 42°28′59″N 3°07′41″E / 42.4831°N 3.1281°E / 42.4831; 3.1281Coordinates: 42°28′59″N 3°07′41″E / 42.4831°N 3.1281°E / 42.4831; 3.1281
Country France
Region Occitanie
Department Pyrénées-Orientales
Arrondissement Céret
Canton La Côte Vermeille
Intercommunality Communauté de communes des Albères et de la Côte Vermeille
Government
 • Mayor (2014-2020) Jean-Michel Solé
Area1 42.34 km2 (16.35 sq mi)
Population (2014)2 4,767
 • Density 110/km2 (290/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
INSEE/Postal code 66016 /66650
Elevation 0–965 m (0–3,166 ft)
(avg. 6 m or 20 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.

Banyuls-sur-Mer (Catalan: Banyuls de la Marenda) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, lived by Greek from 400 before JC.

Geography

Localisation

Banyuls-sur-Mer is located in the canton of La Côte Vermeille and in the arrondissement of Céret.

Banyuls-sur-Mer is neighbored by Cerbère, Port-Vendres, Argelès-sur-Mer and Collioure on its French borders, and by Espolla, Rabós, Colera and Portbou on its Spanish borders. The foothills of Pyrenees, the Monts Albères, run into the Mediterranean Sea in Banyuls-sur-Mer, creating a steep cliff line.

Map of Banyuls-sur-Mer and its surrounding communes

Neighbouring communes

Adjacent places of Banyuls-sur-Mer
Collioure Port-Vendres
Argelès-sur-Mer Mediterranean Sea
   Banyuls-sur-Mer  
Espolla, Rabós
(Spain)		 Colera, Portbou
(Spain)		 Cerbère

Toponymy

Banyuls-sur-Mer was first mentioned in 981 as Balneum or Balneola. In 1074, the town starts being called Bannils de Maritimo in order to distinguish it from Banyuls-dels-Aspres, which lies 20 km (12 mi) away. In 1197, the town is mentioned as Banullis de Maredine and in 1674. In Catalan, it has been called Banyuls de la Marenda, since the 19th century.

The name Banyuls indicates the presence of a pond. In fact, a pond did exist in Banyuls-sur-Mer until the creek Vallauria was drained in 1872. The term Marenda in Catalan or sur Mer in French merely indicates the proximity to the coast.

Government and politics

Mayors

Mayor Term start Term end
René Ribère 1977 1983
Jean Rède 1983 1995
Pierre Becque 1995 2001
Roger Rulls 2001 2008
Jean Rède 2008 2014
Jean-Michel Solé 2014

International relations

Banyuls-sur-Mer is twinned with a small town called Settle which is in North Yorkshire, United Kingdom and also with town of Kralupy nad Vltavou located in Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic.

Demography

"Fête des Vendanges", Vintage festival on the beach, each year in October
Historical population
YearPop.±%
18362,022—    
19013,111+53.9%
19624,271+37.3%
19684,436+3.9%
19754,000−9.8%
19824,093+2.3%
19904,662+13.9%
19994,532−2.8%
20064,632+2.2%
20094,686+1.2%

Sports

Economy

For nearly two centuries, the smuggling of goods to and from Spain was a major activity in Banyuls-sur-Mer. Depending on the needs of the time, salt, tobacco, silver, sugar, rice, textiles, and leather were smuggled through this city, almost always with impunity. Otherwise the inhabitants lived mainly from fishing and viticulture. Nowadays, tourism stemming from the wine industry plays a significant economic role in the town notably for delicious and rare red dessert wines. Under the Collioure appellation, the town is also a center of quality dry reds, rosés and whites, with a number of producers of natural wines.

Notable people

See also

References

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