Amélie-les-Bains-Palalda

Amélie-les-Bains-Palalda in the Tech valley of the Pyrénées-Orientales is a historic Catalan spa town at the foot of the Albères mountains, whose sulphurous springs have been used for therapeutic bathing since Roman times — the Romans called it Aquae Calidae Consoranae, and their bathing infrastructure was among the most elaborate in the province of Gallia Narbonensis. The sulphurous waters, which emerge at temperatures up to 65°C, are particularly effective for rheumatic, respiratory and dermatological conditions, and the resort attracted major figures of 19th-century French cultural life including Victor Hugo, who visited with his family. The location in the lower Tech valley, just 25 kilometres from the Mediterranean coast and close to the Spanish border, gives Amélie a sunny, warm microclimate that makes it one of the most temperate thermal resorts in the Pyrenees.