A good part of Perpignan's population is of Spanish origin – refugees from the Civil War and their descendants. The southern influence is further augmented by a substantial admixture of North Africans, including both Arabs and white French settlers repatriated after Algerian independence in 1962.
While there are few memorable monuments to visit, Perpignan is an enjoyable city with a lively street life. Its heyday was in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, when the kings of Majorca held their court here, and it is from this period that most of its historical interest derives. Well placed on the main Mediterranean coast international lines of communication, it is much the best base for exploring the eastern end of the Pyrenees, and the Cathar castles of the Corbières.