Roussillon – a part of Catalonia

The destination of the trip was Languedoc-Roussillon. This area in Southern France, within the Occitanie region (which was formed by the merger of the former Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées regions), stretches along the Mediterranean from the Rhône Delta to the Spanish border. It’s also where the Pyrenees mountain range meets the Mediterranean, and the coast becomes rocky and full of coves. This coast is often called Côte Vermeille.
due to the predominant reddish colour of its rocks.

A short detour to Spain, southwards along the coast, was also planned. We really wanted to visit the three ‘Cs’: Collioure, Cadaqués, Céret. These are all places that have attracted, hosted, and influenced numerous artists since the 19th century: Matisse and the ‘Fauves’, Picasso, Dalí and other representatives of Surrealism and Cubism, Pointillists, and other art movements of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Right at the start of the trip, we noticed the Catalan flag – five yellow and four red stripes – and unfamiliar spellings of place names in many French towns in this border region.

Travel broadens the mind. One of the insights from this trip is therefore the fact that Catalonia not only encompasses the political region ‘Autonomous Community of Catalonia’ in Spain, but also the neighbouring region of ‘Northern Catalonia’ in Southern France.

Geographically, Northern Catalonia roughly corresponds to the historical province of ‘Roussillon’ and was for a long time politically united with today’s Spanish Catalonia, for example, as Charlemagne’s ‘Spanish March’ or within the Kingdom of Aragon. Many inhabitants therefore still feel culturally connected to the Spanish part; a common language also exists. Besides the presence of the flag (‘La senyera’), this is also evident in many place signs, which are multilingual in French and Catalan (and sometimes Occitan).

The situation is comparable to many other regions whose cultural identity does not align with current political borders and communities. The Basque Country on the Atlantic is similar. In France, however, there seem to be fewer demands for state independence.