Maureillas-las-Illas (French pronunciation: [moʁɛjas laz‿ijas] ⓘ; Catalan: Morellàs i les Illes) is a rural commune in the Vallespir, Pyrénées-Orientales in the south of France.

[3] Until recently, the dolmen of Siuréda[4] was still hidden by a thick vegetation but its discovery shows that the prehistoric man of Chalcolithic, roughly 3500 to 1700 BC, lived in the hills above Maureillas.

[5] Las Illas is in the deep confines of a valley leading to the Col of Panissars, on the border with Spain, and the Trophy of Pompey.

In the 9th century, the passage was so important that the clergy of Arles-sur-Tech built a church dedicated to Notre Dame du Remède there.

The Trabucayres are famous mountain outlaws, bands of individuals who, on behalf of social banditry, political or foul, robbed, kidnapped, and ransomed coaches, landowners and farmers from 1837 to 1846.

In addition, Trabucayres preceded their acts with religious rituals to absolve them from all sin, thus reinforcing their popularity among common people.