ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the case of a particular marginal area, the village of Portbou, in the comarca of Alt Emporda. It is located in the extreme East of the Pyrenees, where the mountain ranges join the Mediterranean sea, and adjoins the French border. The chapter describes the main features of its location, together with its socioeconomic situation, emphasizing its urban evolution. From a physical perspective, the most distinctive feature of Portbou is its actual site: located at the easternmost corner of the Pyrenees, just at the point where this mountain range reaches at the Mediterranean sea. The economic decline of Portbou began during the decade of the 1960s. It was related with a general factor, common to all western European countries at that time: the development of road transport and, at the same time, the progressive neglect of railway, coinciding with the implementation of the Transport International Road system.
