Portbou is a pleasantly sleepy border town and port and is the first place you'll come to when coming from France if you have taken the Paris - Cerbere sleeper, or not come on the high-speed trainline.
The town was a hive of activity in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries with the coming of the railways and in particular, the incompatibility of Spanish and French railway tracks. The different gauges meant that people had time to wait at the station, which they used by visiting the town.
Now high-speed trains take a different route into Spain, so this town has been able to kick-back and chill. However, it does have a steady stream of visitors from France who come to stock up on sin-taxed products like cigarettes, alcohol and perfume.
The dominance of local slate gives the town a vague feeling of being in North Wales, except you don't turn blue when you go in the sea.
The mass exodus of people through here at the end of the Spanish Civil War and then the flow of Jewish and other vulnerable people with the fall of France in the Second World War has been commemorated at the border and a poignant memorial to Walter Benjamin is by the graveyard.
Highlights
Visit the moving memorial created by Israeli sculptor Dani Karavan to eclectic thinker Walter Benjamin and the Europeans exiled between 1933 and 1945
Coastal walks - Portbou is on the GR 92 Argelès-sur-mer to Rosas and E12 'Mediterranean Sea trail' European walking routes
Station stroll ideas
Tourist info have provided a map of Portbou here and links to walks here - mostly in Catalan.
...and here's a link to a google map that I've made which you can use on your phone.
Guided tours
I'm not aware of anyone offering guided tours. Let me know if you find anyone...
Luggage
I'm not aware of anywhere in Portbou where you could drop your bags, but you could try checking the nannybag app or asking local hotels.
If you'd like to find out more about the place, I've made a video below.
Crossing the border
In this short video I take a walk along the coastal path, look at the memorial to those who had to flee along this route, visit the memorial to Walter Benjamin and have a quick nosey round town.
...And here's a written version.
Getting there
There are one or two trains a day direct from Avignon (via Nimes, taking around 4 hours) and there are regular trains from Narbonne (1 1⁄2 hours) which is also where you would change if you're coming from Arles or Marseille.
From Portbou there are regular trains to Figueres (20 mins), Girona (1 hour) and Barcelona (2 hours).
Useful links
Tourist Information: http://www.portbou.cat/
Walter Benjamin info: https://walterbenjaminportbou.org/en/angelus-novus-foundation/