Alénya

Alénya
The town hall in Alénya
Coat of arms
Alénya
Location within Languedoc-Roussillon region Alénya
Coordinates:
Country	France
Region	Languedoc-Roussillon-Midi-Pyrénées
Department	Pyrénées-Orientales
Arrondissement	Perpignan
Canton	La Côte Radieuse
Intercommunality	Communauté de communes Sud Roussillon
Government
• Mayor (2014–2020)	Jean-André Magdalou
Area1	5.34 km2 (2.06 sq mi)
Population (2012)2	3,283
• Density	610/km2 (1,600/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	66002 / 66200
Elevation	3–18 m (9.8–59.1 ft) (avg. 5 m or 16 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Alénya (Catalan: Alenyà) is a commun in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.

The village is surrounded by wine fields. Apricot and peach are also grown here.

Geography

Alénya covers an area of 5.34 km² (2.06 sq mi), with 434 inhabitants per km². It is located about 10 km (6.2 mi) from Perpignan and borders the municipalities of Saint-Nazaire en Roussillon, Canet-en-Roussillon, Saint-Cyprien, Elne, Corneilla del Vercol, Théza, and Saleilles. Alénya has a Mediterranean climate.

Alénya is located in the canton of La Côte Radieuse and in the arrondissement of Perpignan.

Map of Alénya and its surrounding communes

History

Alénya was first inhabited by the Celts and was conquered by the Romans in c. 121 BC. It was first mentioned in 904 in a document mentioning towns on the Elne.

Before 1214 Alénya was only a small hamlet with little importance. That was the year its first church was built. A second church which still stands today was built in 1593. Among its attractions is a statue of the Virgin Mary from the fifteenth century.

Government and politics

Mayors

Mayor	Term start	Term end
Simone Parrot	1965	1983
Jacques Pumareda	2001	2014
Jean-André Magdalou	2014

Population

The people of Alénya are called Alényanais.

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1962	661	—
1968	678	+2.6%
1975	1,006	+48.4%
1982	1,211	+20.4%
1990	1,562	+29.0%
1999	2,318	+48.4%
2006	2,780	+19.9%
2009	3,020	+8.6%

Sites of interest

• The Sainte-Eulalie-et-Sainte-Julie church, built from 1593.
• The Ortaffa medieval house.
• The Pedra Martina, a medieval boundary stone.
• The Pompe Bonne, an old fountain.
• The former castle and Saint-Martin church of Boaça, both medieval and once located to the west of Alénya, were destroyed in 1974 to build a summer camp.

See also

• Communes of the Pyrénées-Orientales department

References

• INSEE commune file