Bourg-Madame

Bourg-Madame (French pronunciation: [buʁ madam] ^ⓘ; Occitan: Burg Madama; Catalan: La Guingueta d'Ix) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.^[3]

Bourg-Madame La Guingueta d'Ix
Commune
The town hall in Bourg-Madame
Coat of arms
Location of Bourg-Madame
Bourg-Madame Show map of France Bourg-Madame Show map of Occitanie
Coordinates: 42°26′07″N 1°56′41″E
Country	France
Region	Occitania
Department	Pyrénées-Orientales
Arrondissement	Prades
Canton	Les Pyrénées catalanes
Intercommunality	Pyrénées Cerdagne
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Daniel Armisen[1]
Area 1	7.85 km2 (3.03 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[2]	1,194
• Density	150/km2 (390/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	66025 /66760
Elevation	1,130–1,235 m (3,707–4,052 ft) (avg. 1,130 m or 3,710 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Geography

Localisation

Bourg-Madame is located in the canton of Les Pyrénées catalanes and in the arrondissement of Prades. It lies right on the border with Spain. It abuts directly onto the Spanish town of Puigcerdà, and is near the Spanish exclave of Llívia.

Map of Bourg-Madame and its surrounding communes

Toponymy

The town used to be known in French as Les Guinguettes,^[4] until 1815 when it was renamed Bourg-Madame in honour of the wife of the Duke of Angoulême. The Catalan name for the town is still the traditional one.

History

In the 20th century, Bourg-Madame was the site of a camp housing Republican escapees from Spain at the end of the Spanish Civil War.^[5]

Government and politics

Mayors

Mayor	Term start	Term end
Thomas Casals[6]	1930	?
Jean Salvat[7]	1945	1965
Joseph Calvet	1965	1995
Jean-Jacques Fortuny	1995	2020
Daniel Armisen	2020	incumbent

Transport

Roads

The following major roads lead to Bourg-Madame:

• N-20 from Ur to the north;
• N-154 and D-68 from the Spanish enclave Llívia to the northeast;
• N-116 from Saillagouse to the east;
• D-30 and D-70 from Osséja and Palau-de-Cerdagne to the southeast;
• N-152 from Puigcerdà to the west.

Railways

Bourg-Madame is located at a key point of intersection for railways that link Toulouse, Barcelona, and Valencia (as well as Perpignan to the east via the Yellow Train).

The railway station is located in the Arena district.

Population

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1968	821	—
1975	1,120	+4.54%
1982	1,257	+1.66%
1990	1,238	−0.19%
1999	1,166	−0.66%
2007	1,255	+0.92%
2012	1,266	+0.17%
2017	1,224	−0.67%
Source: INSEE[8]

International relations

The commune is twinned with:

• Vespella de Gaià, Spain

See also

• Communes of the Pyrénées-Orientales department