Location Guide: Pyrenées-Orientales

From the coast at Port-Vendres to mountain ski villages, Carolyn Reynier takes a tour of the property market in the Pyrénées-Orientales…

Entre mer et montagne let me take you to one of those rare places where you can live between sea and mountains. The sea is the Mediterranean, the mountains are the Pyrénées. We’re off to the Occitanie region and the Pyrénées-Orientales, the ancient province of Roussillon in northern Catalonia.
Lively Port-Vendres and its deep natural harbour, sheltered from the Tramontane wind, lies at the foot of the Albères Massif close to the Spanish border on the Côte Vermeille. In 2022 it was classified as an outstanding heritage site and in 2023, although it has a rich Greco-Roman past and strong maritime history, Portus Veneris celebrated the bicentenary of its independence (from Collioure).

Meanwhile, the old Catalan mountain village of Les Angles is in the wide Capcir valley in the heart of the Parc Naturel Régional des Pyrénées Catalanes, entered via the Col de la Quillane. This dynamic, family village station has 60km of signposted ski runs through a landscape of forests and lakes evocative of Canada, offering a panorama from the Pic Carlit (2,921m) to the foot of the Canigou Massif (2,784m). There’s snowshoe, downhill and cross-country skiing in winter; and hiking (with or without pack donkey), mountain biking (VTT), horse riding and swimming in Lake Matemale the rest of the year.

In Port-Vendres you can expect to pay around €150,000 for a small one-bedroom apartment in the port, says Delphine Sanchez of Agence Immobilière du Port. In the sunny Rue Arago – known as the Rue du Soleil and the most expensive street in Port-Vendres – you can still find fishermen’s cottages, some of which have been converted into apartments. She tells me a cottage for renovation sold recently for about €400,000.

In narrow streets behind the port, you may find a small old apartment with no view for around €80,000. Higher up, a one-bedroom sixth-floor apartment with sea and port views, close to the railway station, is on the market for €214,000 (Barrio Immobilier).

Occasionally, some really lovely properties come up for sale. Delphine is currently marketing a new apartment and a large modern house above the village with open views of the port and the sea. Prices are in the €500,000- €800,000 bracket. A business opportunity for wine lovers, Port-Vendres’ last wine cellar, 350m from the port, is also on the market – 131m², bar, storage for barrels, small kitchen for tastings (€285,000, Espaces Atypiques, Eric Via).

For the investor, Port- Vendres has good long-term and seasonal let markets. There is little building land available. “We’re in the hills, so it’s quickly saturated and the Loi Littorale blocks coastal development,” she says.

You’ll find small villas in Cosprons about 15 minutes away by car. This small hamlet of Port-Vendres has a 12th- century church and is built on the hillside overlooking Paulilles bay. Have a look, too, at inland villages at the foot of the Mont Albères. Delphine is selling a small brand-new 80m² house in Laroque-des-Albères for €316,000. A four-bedroom one-storey villa for renovation in the centre of St-Génis-des- Fontaines is priced at €190,000 (St-Génis Immobilier).

The plus points for Delphine are that Port-Vendres, with a population of just under 4,000, “vit à l’année – shops and businesses remain open year-round. There’s always lots going on around the port, we’re at the end of the fast voie rapide, so we’re on the outskirts of Perpignan in 20 minutes, we have an ideal location and the mountains are close by,” she adds. Paulilles, the local beach, is a 10-minute drive, and there are small coves and inlets dotted along the coast.

Rémi Sanson of Agence Peyrot lives in the Catalan village of Les Angles, overlooking the valley and Lake Matemale. The old stone slate-roofed village houses are nearly all terraced. “There are no large villas quatre faces [detached houses] like you can see today. It’s really a small period village.” If there is any outside space, it’ll be a small courtyard, usually at the front.

Rémi says you’ll pay around €250,000 for an 80m² house requiring complete renovation. The same size property renovated can change hands for €500,000. Prices are high, he says, however, the village operates all year round. Les Angles divides up into three sections. “There’s only the vieux village that’s old. All the rest is recent,” says Rémi. The village is in the centre with free shuttle buses to the ski resort. Pla del Mir is situated ahead of the village on the left, near the mountain, where there’s a departure point to join the ski runs. Here you find three/four-storey apartment buildings. A 22m² studio will sell for about €80,000. There are also some chalets, mainly constructed in Nordic timber. They are usually built with solid ground-level foundations to protect the wood from snow, so the living area is nearly always on the first floor. Expect to pay almost €900,000 for a 120m² Nordic timber chalet. These Pla del Mir properties are mainly second homes.

In the ski resort itself, which lies between the village and Pla del Mir, prices for a studio on the front de neige (snow front), are around €10,000 higher. The rest of the year, there’s great hiking, mountain biking, and watersports on Lake Matemale.

A few kilometres to the east, Matemale is a smaller, less expensive version of Les Angles – an old Catalan village with small stone houses lying below the dam. It has developed along the banks of the Matemale where you now have 50-odd chalets with lake views, much in demand. Rémi recently sold a 145m² one for €600,000. You’re surrounded by mountains for hiking – otherwise the main attraction is the lake.

Further north, Formiguères has a slightly larger year-round population than Les Angles. There has been a lot of building around the old village and the ski resort has been developed a 10-minute drive away. It’s a popular village with buyers and property is a little cheaper. The old Catalan terraced cottages in the hamlets of Fontrabiouse, Espousouille and Rieutort are primarily main residences. Puyvalador by the dam also has a ski resort 10 minutes away in the direction of Rieutort.

Old farmsteads – corps de ferme – with barns and outbuildings for renovation are thin on the ground because many are divided up among family members when owners die. If you do find one that has been kept intact, they are costly to renovate. “It’s an investment that will exceed €800,000,” says Rémi.

Font-Romeu to the southwest is the largest nearby town for shopping and services. You’ll drive through the old village of La Llagonne (more main homes than holiday ones) to get there. There’s a small family ski station and the Mont-Louis La Quillane airfield, where you can learn to fly gliders and make your baptême de l’air. A three-bedroom village house is on the market here for €145,000 (Christophe Dez, EXP France). The village lies on the plateau that divides the Cerdagne from the Capcir, and is not far from the Capcir Nordic ski resort of the Domaine du Col de la Llose. One of the main advantages of Capcir living is the climate – there are no heatwaves like elsewhere. “We have summer temperatures of 32°C but there’s always a little fresh mountain breeze so we’re not too hot,” Rémi says. “Au niveau climat, c’est vraiment exceptionnel.”

Daily life is also appealing. Rémi lived for 10 years in Perpignan prior to returning to Les Angles, his native village, five years ago. “When I lived in the city, I picked up the children from school, returned home, there was the usual evening routine and we repeated that all week,” he recounts.

Now, after picking up the kids and his wife from home, he might take them for a lakeside picnic or a half-hour walk in the mountains to look for a handful of mushrooms. “We have a way of life which is healthier, more open, less stressful compared to the town.” No traffic jams, no traffic lights, no roundabouts and always the mountains.

Yes, for six weeks or so in winter and summer the resort is busy and buzzing, but the rest of the year…

port-vendres.com

lesangles.com

parc-pyrenees-catalanes.fr

tourisme-pyreneesorientales.com

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