Portbou
Portbou is a town in the Alt Empordà county, in the Province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. A small but important point for the Republicans during the Spanish Civil War, as it was one of the few places from where they could get supplies from abroad. Where German Jewish philosopher Walter Benjamin died by suicide, and was buried in 1940.
Portbou
- Name
- Portbou
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In this article
Overview
Overview
There is a monument in his honor, by Dani Karavan.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Portbou • Settlement Type — Municipality • Subdivision Type — Country • Subdivision Name — Spain • Subdivision Type1 — Community • Subdivision Name1 — Catalonia • Subdivision Type2 — Province • Subdivision Name2 — Girona • Subdivision Type3 — Comarca • Subdivision Name3 — Alt Empordà • Leader Title — Mayor • Leader Name — Trino Martínez (2019) • Area Total Km2 — 9.2 • Elevation M — 28 • Population Density Km2 — auto • Population Demonym — Portbouenc, portbouenca • Website — www.portbou.cat
Transport
Transport
The Portbou railway station is a break-of-gauge station. It contains a major rail freight transfer facility, and a large passenger station built to support customs and immigration. The customs and immigration facilities are no longer required as both France and Spain are Schengen Area members. A pair of railway tunnels connect Portbou with Cerbère in France. One tunnel contains a standard gauge track, and one an Iberian gauge track. Local Spanish trains either terminate at Portbou or run through to Cerbère, where the Iberian gauge tracks ends, and French trains either terminate at Cerbère or continue to Portbou. Portbou has a Talgo Automatic Track Gauge Changeover System facility, for use by through trains between France and Spain. The road connection to Cerbère in France is via the Coll dels Balitres (163 m). This route is 7 km longer than the rail route (1.8 km). The GR 92 long distance footpath, which roughly follows the length of the Mediterranean coast of Spain, starts at Portbou. Stage 1 links southwards to Llançà, a distance of 9.8 km.
Notable people
Notable people
• Clemente Cerdeira Fernández, (1887–1947), Spanish Arabist and diplomat • Àngels Santos Torroella, Catalan painter • Walter Benjamin, committed suicide in Portbou
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Portbou, revision 1376238260 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
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Makers, houses and production
Knowledge graph
Makers, houses and production
The people, houses and objects recorded in connection with this place.
Born at
1- Rafael Santos TorroellaAuthor
Established from a fact already recorded on a verified source.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 26 September 2026.
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