Caves and shafts in Portbou

Portbou, the last village on the Catalan coast before the French border, took shape in the 19th century around the border railway station, when the difference in track gauge required passengers to change trains. The philosopher Walter Benjamin died here in 1940 while fleeing the Nazi occupation, and a monument to him overlooks the cove. The rugged relief of the eastern Pyrenees that surrounds the village drops directly down to the sea.