A little piece of Spain set in the French countryside

There are 13 km² within mainland France that are owned by another country. Welcome to Llívia, a Spanish-owned enclave five km from its border, but surrounded by the Pyrénées-Orientales.

This peculiar aspect of France dates back to 1659, when the Treaty of the Pyrenees was signed, ending the 24-year-long Franco-Spanish War and giving France 33 villages.

Only Llívia was then classified as a town, a legal detail upon which Spain capitalised.

More than 357 years have passed, and Llívia has remained entirely Spanish.

It is a Catalan stronghold of around 1,500 residents, who mainly speak Catalan.

The town’s festivals and cuisine reflect this identity. Annual celebrations feature traditional Catalan music and dance. Local restaurants serve Catalan dishes like escudella i carn d’olla and pa amb tomàquet. Shops close during the afternoon, and restaurants are open until 22:00.

Agriculture and tourism are its two main sectors of growth. Local markets sell Catalan cheeses and cured meats, generating tourism activity.

Its main attractions are the Esteve Pharmacy Museum, which houses one of Europe’s oldest pharmacies and attracts around 16,000 tourists per year, and several Roman-built buildings.

There is still one major source of conflict that has spanned centuries: road access. Over the first two centuries, the borders had a vague written demarcation along the current Franco-Spanish border, which led to extensive disputes over control of water streams and pasturelands.

Napoleon III and Isabella II of Spain sought to put an end to these troubles and signed three separate treaties in 1856, 1862 and 1866.

In Llívia, use of the canal is shared with France, with both countries granted usage rights on different days of the week. French residents can use it from Sunday morning to Wednesday night. Spaniards can use it on the other days.

Clashes over neutral road

The treaties also specified that Spanish drivers should not be subject to police checks on the D68, the French road that runs through Llívia but is considered the N154 in the village. Its ownership remains neutral.

This specificity is at the heart of the ‘War of the Stop Signs’ in 1971, because the treaties signed in the 1850s and 1860s did not mention consequences for stop sign degradation.

During three weeks in April 1971, stop signs installed by French workers on the D68 to reduce speed ahead of a dangerous roundabout were systematically removed overnight by locals. Llívia fought the French government, which eventually backed down. In 1983, Llívia got a new bridge to replace its roundabout.

In the 2000s, locals opposed a French government project to build a new roundabout on the D68, which was eventually inaugurated in 2015 to connect with Puigcerdà, a Spanish border town.