Céret (Catalan: Ceret) is a town and commune of the Pyrénées-Orientales département. It is the capital of Vallespir comarca. The town lies in the foothills of the Pyrénées mountains, in southwestern France. It is most famous for its Museum of Modern Art which has numerous Picasso paintings and sculptures as well as paintings by many other impressionist artists. The Café Pablo in the town is dedicated to Picasso and The Grand Café, still operating today, was a meeting place for many famous artists in the early part of the last century.

The region around Céret is major fruit producer, in particular famed for its cherries. The first of the seasons's pick are, by local tradition, sent to France's President. Céret hosts a cherry festival each year with such oddities as cherry beer and a cherry stone spitting competition. The cherry season last is during the end of April and May. At this time, the town is at its most picturesque.

Céret also holds an annual bull running festival known as 'la feria' where young bulls (usually with their horns blunted) are run through the streets coralled by a group of highly skilled Camargue horsemen and women. Young bloods, fired up on cheap local wine and wearing traditional red and yellow Catalan outfits, chase from behind in an attempt to catch hold of the bull's tail and hold on for as long as they can. Many bruises result although mostly it has to be said, to the ego.

Céret regularly holds communal dances, where local amateurs or professionals dance in a ring. The dance is known as the 'sardanes'. No pre-arrangement is made on the dancers behalf, locals note the time and place on posters around the city and turn up as they wish. More formal arrangements are also made on other occasions.

Céret's Saturday market is a high point of the week and is as much a social event as anything else. It is a bustling, busy market mostly selling local fruit, veg, cheese and wines. Much frequented by the large local English, Dutch, German and Scandanavian population that have moved to the Céret region in the last ten to fifteen years.

Geography

It has an altitude of 175-1400 meters. It is located 7 km from the Autoroute A9, 200 km from Montpellier, 250 km from Toulouse and 180 km from Barcelona. It lies on the river Tec.

[edit] Main Sites

This short section requires expansion.

• The Pont du Diable (Devil's Bridge), a 14th century bridge.

The story of the Pont du Diable is as follows. The locals wished a bridge to be built across the river and called the devil to build it for them. He agreed on the condition that he would claim the first soul to cross it. The bridge built, the locals sent a cat across first for the devil to claim.