Pictured (L to R): Sarasota Mayor Liz Alpert and Perpignan Mayor Louis Aliot signing the Sister Cities re-commitment agreement. Photo by Dylan Campbell.

What do a city in the south of France and Sarasota have in common? More than one might think. In the fall of 1994, Sarasota signed an agreement to become a sister city of Perpignan, the southern-most town in metropolitan France. On March 6, the Sister Cities Association of Sarasota and Mayor Liz Alpert welcomed Perpignan’s mayor Louis Alpert to resign the agreement in commemoration of the 30-year alliance.

Similar to Sarasota, Perpignan is a city that is steeped in history, albeit a much longer one than that of Sarasota’s. Located at the edge of the Iberian Peninsula, at the foot of the Pyrenees Mountains and under 10 miles from the Mediterranean Sea, Perpignan’s roots trace back to the 10th century as one of the Catalan counties in the Marca Hispania during the Middle Ages. As such, citizens of Perpignan typically speak not only French, but also Catalan.

Today, Perpignan is a thriving city with a metropolitan area that over 200,000 call home.

The resigning of the Sister Cities agreement with Sarasota is more than just the upholding of tradition—it symbolizes the willingness from both parties to have an alliance that fosters growth through cultural and intellectual exchange.

“What excites me about the Sister Cities program is that it helps foster friendships, collaboration and understanding between not just the two sister cities, but between the residents and the countries as well,” says Mayor Liz Alpert. “I think that it’s important for us to have those kinds of connections and experiences so that we can understand that people are the same around the world and have the same desires and hopes for the future. We need this kind of cross-nation dialogue to help understand that.”

Pictured (L to R): Sarasota Mayor Liz Alpert and Perpignan Mayor Louis Aliot signing the Sister Cities re-commitment agreement. Photo by Dylan Campbell.

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