- A new stage town
- Commune in Pyrénées-Orientales (66)
- Population: 600 (Anglois and Angloises)
In summer, this Pyrenean resort is very popular with mountain bikers, who gather there for downhill races. In 2022, it also hosted a stage finish of the Route d’Occitanie, when Canadian Michael Woods took the lead in the overall classification after taking the day’s honours ahead of Carlos Rodríguez. Although the Tour de France peloton has never visited Les Angles, neighbouring Font-Romeu has hosted two stage starts: in 1968, when the riders headed for Albi, and in 1976, when the stage went to Saint-Gaudens.
LES ANGLES
Winter sports resort
In 1961, 250 inhabitants lived in the village, whose main activities were agriculture and pastoralism. The municipal council, under the mandate of Paul Samson, decided to develop skiing on land stretching from Pla Del Mir to Péborny.
Today, the village of Les Angles has a 55-km ski area open in winter, two ski schools and 40 km of Nordic trails for snowshoeing and hiking. The resort also offers a new activity: a toboggan run on rails, with speeds of over 40 kph. The resort has adapted its infrastructure to welcome mountain bikers in summer, in particular with its bike park featuring trails designed for downhill mountain biking.
Saint-Michel des Angles Church
Construction: 19th century.
Style: Neo-Romanesque.
Characteristics: it was built in the 19th century in a Neo-Romanesque style. It houses a 17th-century altarpiece depicting the Nativity. The altarpiece depicting the Epiphany and the Adoration of the Magi, located on the right as you enter, dates from the 18th century. It comes from the former Saint-Sauveur Church.
Listed as: the 18th-century altarpiece has been listed as a historic monument since 2000.
Church of Sainte-Marie de Vallsera
Construction: 11th century.
Style: Romanesque.
History and characteristics: the old village of Vallsera has now disappeared. According to tradition, the church and the hamlet of Balcère were decimated by the Black Death in the 14th century. Two surviving sisters were taken in at Les Angles, and since then this territory, which belonged to the parish of Formiguères, is said to have passed to Les Angles. In reality, it was in 1701 that the Abbey of Saint-Michel de Cuxa ceded the devèse (communal pastureland) of Vallsera to Les Angles.
Listed as: the altarpiece, transferred to the new Saint-Michel church, has been listed as a historic monument since 2000.
Refuge des Bouillouses
Construction: 1903
History: built to house workers involved in the construction of the Bouillouses dam between 1903 and 1910, the building began to be used for tourism in 1920. It was managed for a time by the French Alpine Club from 1991 onwards. Now owned by the Catalan Pyrenees Community of Municipalities, the refuge was renovated and equipped between 2018 and 2022 at a cost of €1.5 million and reopened in December 2022.
Characteristics: the refuge is open for nine months of the year, from December to April and from May to October, offering 46 beds in rooms or dormitories and 12 in winter, when it is “semi-staffed” in the section reserved for ski tourers. The refuge is a base for hiking and mountain biking excursions, particularly to the Carlit (2,921 m) and Peric (2,810 m) peaks to the east and north, and the nearby mountain peaks and lakes, such as the Carlit lakes.
