Le Tech

Le Tech El Tec
Commune
An overall view of Le Tech
Location of Le Tech
Le Tech Show map of France Le Tech Show map of Occitanie
Coordinates: 42°24′41″N 2°32′42″E / 42.4114°N 2.545°E / 42.4114; 2.545
Country	France
Region	Occitania
Department	Pyrénées-Orientales
Arrondissement	Céret
Canton	Le Canigou
Intercommunality	Haut Vallespir
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Guillaume Cervantes[1]
Area ^1	25.18 km^2 (9.72 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[2]	97
• Density	3.9/km^2 (10/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	66206 /66230
Elevation	420–2,721 m (1,378–8,927 ft) (avg. 520 m or 1,710 ft)
^1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km^2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Le Tech (French pronunciation: [lə tɛk] ^ⓘ; Catalan: El Tec) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. It is part of the historical Vallespir comarca.

Geography

Localisation

Le Tech is located east of Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste, in the canton of Le Canigou and in the arrondissement of Céret.

Map of Le Tech and its surrounding communes

Neighbouring communes

Land relief

Elevation ranges from 420 to 2721 meters.

Hydrography

The territory of Le Tech is shaped by the valley of the river Coumelade and the village itself is located at the confluence of the Coumelade and the river Tech.

Confluence of the Coumelade and the Tech

Toponymy

Le Tech takes its name from the Tech river which runs through the village.

History

The commune of Le Tech was created on March 19, 1862, by a piece of territory being separated from Prats-de-Mollo.^[3]

Government and politics

Mayors

Mayor	Term start	Term end
Jean-Michel Coste	1971	1980
Raphaël Sales	1980	1989
Roger Gineste	1989	?
Claude Puitg	2001	2008
Guillaume Cervantes	2008

Population

Historical population
Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1866 554 —     1872 521 −1.02% 1876 543 +1.04% 1881 498 −1.72% 1886 508 +0.40% 1891 450 −2.40% 1896 458 +0.35% 1901 470 +0.52% 1906 557 +3.45% 1911 512 −1.67% 1921 439 −1.53% 1926 449 +0.45% 1931 410 −1.80%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1936 370 −2.03% 1946 249 −3.88% 1954 252 +0.15% 1962 218 −1.80% 1968 152 −5.83% 1975 126 −2.64% 1982 124 −0.23% 1990 124 +0.00% 1999 84 −4.24% 2007 86 +0.29% 2012 103 +3.67% 2017 95 −1.60%
Source: EHESS[4] and INSEE[5]

Sites of interest

The new Saint Mary church

• Saint Mary church : the ancient church from the 17th c., located near the river, was destroyed by floods in 1940 and a new one was then built above the village.
• St Guillem of Combret Hermitage
• Sainte Cécile de Cos church
• Cos tower
• Saint Côme et Saint-Damien de La Llau church

See also

• Communes of the Pyrénées-Orientales department

References

1. "Répertoire national des élus: les maires". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 2 December 2020.
2. "Populations de référence 2022" (in French). National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 19 December 2024.
3. Jean-Pierre Pélissier, Paroisses et communes de France : dictionnaire d'histoire administrative et démographique, vol. 66 : Pyrénées-Orientales, Paris, CNRS, 1986, 378 p. (ISBN 2-222-03821-9)
4. Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Le Tech, EHESS (in French).
5. Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE