Did you know that the small village of Arles-sur-Tech was once a lively, bustling, working village with a population of around 2,400, not so far off the 2,700 of today, and probably much busier.

There was a direct train line from Perpignan to Arles, St Laurent and Prats de Mollo, transporting goods from the village’s three main industries, iron mining, weaving….and chocolate!

In fact, the first real chocolate factory in France was created in 1814 in Arles-sur-Tech.

And another first. Arles was one of the first villages in France to produce and use its own electricity.