Llivia is an exclave town in Catalonia, Spain, surrounded by France on all sides.

Understand

In 1659, the Spaniards ceded all villages north of the Pyrenees mountains to the French in the Treaty of the Pyrenees. However, Llivia has the legal status of being a town, not a village, because it was an ancient capital of Cerdanya and thus it remains as Spanish territory. This quirk meant that Llivia is cut off from the rest of mainland Spain.

Visitor information

• 1 Tourism Office, Carrer dels Forns, 10, ☏ +34 972 896 313, turisme@llivia.org. Tu-Sa 09:00-14:00, 15:30-18:00; Su 09:00-14:00. (updated Feb 2022)

Get in

By car

From the west, in mainland Spain. Head to Alp, take N260 highway north towards Puigcerdà. Then continue northwest along Highways N152 and N154. N154 will temporarily change to D68 for about 1.6 km as it passes through French territory before changing back to N154 in Llivia. It is interesting to note that the D68 road is considered to be "neutral" to both countries.

From the east, drive to Estavar and continue west to enter Olivia.

By bus

Take Alsa bus from Puigcerdà.

See

• 1 Museo Municipal de Llívia. Tu-Sa 09:00-14:00, 15:30-18:00; Su 09:00-14:00. A local museum plus a medieval pharmacy. The pharmacy is one of the oldest in Europe. €3.50 for adults. (updated Feb 2022)
• 2 Church of Our Lady of the Angels (Iglesia Mare de Deu dels Angels). (updated Feb 2022)
• 3 Castell de Llivia. 24 hours. Historic ruin which overlooks the valley. It dates back to the bronze age (updated Feb 2022)

Sleep

• 1 Hotel Bernat de So, Carrer de Cereja, 5, ☏ +34 972 14 62 06. Check-in: 14:00, check-out: 12:00. (updated Feb 2022)

Connect

As of Jan 2024, Llivia and its approach highways have 4G from all Spanish and French carriers, and 5G from Free.