The Roman road constructed here, known as the Via Tolosana, was also used by Muslim invaders[citation needed] in the eighth century in their attempt to conquer France.

[citation needed] The pass was fortified in the 16th century by the Habsburgs in fear of French invasion, which however would not occur until the Peninsular War and the arrival of Napoleon's general Louis Gabriel Suchet in 1808.

[2] During WWII Léon Blum, Édouard Daladier, Paul Reynaud, Georges Mandel and Maurice Gamelin were interned under the Vichy regime.

The building of the road tunnel was controversial, particularly in France, with those opposing it claiming that it would effectively destroy the natural beauty of the Aspe Valley (Vallée d'Aspe), preferring full reopening of the Pau-Canfranc rail line.

On 3 June 2003 French deputy Jean Lassalle interrupted the French National Assembly by singing the "love song" Se Canto, protesting against Minister of the Interior Nicolas Sarkozy's announcement of the moving of 23 gendarmes guarding the Somport Road Tunnel to the town of Oloron-Sainte-Marie from neighbouring Urdos, where Sarkozy commented that their wives had probably been "bored".

In October 2020, Spain and France announced to investigate the reopening of the railway tunnel, co-financed by the European Union’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).