The Spanish town surrounded by France

Deep in the Cerdanya, in the Pyrenees, there's a municipality of the province of Girona completely surrounded by French territory: Llívia. To get there from Spain you have to drive a couple of kilometres along a road that crosses France.

Blame the small print. In 1659, under the Peace of the Pyrenees, Spain ceded to France the Roussillon and 33 villages of northern Cerdanya. But Llívia wasn't officially a village: it had held the title of town since the days of Emperor Charles. And since the treaty spoke of "villages", the Spanish negotiators seized on the word: the town stayed.

France accepted, and so was born one of Europe's most singular enclaves: 13 square kilometres of Spain embedded in the neighbouring country.

Three and a half centuries later, Llívia is still there, perfectly at ease. Definitive proof that reading the contract pays off.