A simple stone memorial on the beach just north of Argelès marks the site of one of the worst — and least-remembered — episodes in modern French history. In the Retirada of February 1939, half a million Spanish Republicans crossed the Pyrenees ahead of Franco's army; the French government interned around 100,000 of them on this open beach, behind barbed wire and under armed guard.
There was no shelter, no clean water and no sanitation for the first weeks; an unknown number died. Survivors were eventually moved to more permanent camps or recruited into French labour battalions, and many of the men later fought in the Resistance. The memorial is a sober, well-maintained pillar with inscriptions in French, Catalan and Spanish; a small interpretation panel covers the history. Free, open at all times; visit at the start or end of a beach walk.