FIGUERAS, a frontier town of Spain, in the province of Gerona, and 20 miles W.N.W. of the town of that name. It is a straggling town, situated in a rich plain of olives and rice. It possesses a beautiful parish church, two monasteries, and a hospital. The principal manufactures are leather and paper, and it has some trade with France. The citadel, an irregular pentagonal structure on the principles of Vauban, is considered one of the strongest fortresses in Europe. It was built by Ferdinand VI., and its situation renders it the key to the frontier. Its cost amounted to £285,000, and it contains accommodation for 16,000 men and 500 horses. The buildings inside the walls are all bomb-proof, and the natural adaptation of its situation has been so taken advantage of that trenches can scarcely bo opened on any side, the ground being everywhere rocky. In 1794 it was surrendered to the French, but it was retaken in 1795. It was again captured by the French in 1808, and though they were forced to vacate it in 1811, they recaptured it on the 19th August of the same year. In 1813 they were again driven out, but it again capitulated to them in 1823. The population of Figueras is about 10,000.