El Portús is already the official name of the border neighborhood of La Jonquera

It’s official. From now on, the name of El Portús will appear on all documents and informative signs as the name of the border and commercial neighborhood of La Jonquera. Els Límits, the name that had been used since 1883, when the customs office was transferred to this area, is now history.

The general sub-directorate of Legal Assistance and Innovation in Local Administration, an organism dependent on the General Directorate of Local Administration of the Generalitat, has resolved, after carrying out several checks, that the official name of this population center is El Portús, as as claimed by the City Council of La Jonquera and as it was known among its inhabitants.

In this way, it has ratified its name in the register of the local public sector of Catalonia, which means that from now on when we refer to this neighbourhood, bordering on the French Le Pethus, we must use the term El Portús.

The document that the deputy director general of Legal Assistance and Innovation in Local Administration, Xavier Salvadó Vives, has transmitted to the secretary of the City Council of La Jonquera explains that the change is totally effective and that the processing of the file is not necessary of change of number by the Consistory.

This puts an end to a popular battle that started more than two decades ago when the City Council – Jordi Cabezas being mayor – asked the General Directorate of Local Administration to modify the maps of the official gazetteer of major toponymy of Catalonia and others Documents from Servei Cartogràfic.

The current mayoress, Sònia Martínez, explains that the change was made halfway. It was rectified on the maps, but not on the official documentation, despite the fact that since 2002, the name Los Límites/Els Límits has been disappearing from commercial advertising for establishments and documents issued by the City Council.

Even today there are some elements on the ground that indicate that this change was not total. Before reaching the old police checkpoints, on the border, an indicative sign informs that we are in Els Límits, which should soon be changed to El Portús.