The place seems to have been occupied since the Iron Age: blocks of gneiss found following the Aiguat of Tech in 1940 were engraved signs of the time. They have been the subject of various theories (cromlech, temple, ...) but none is really based on verifiable information.

The site of the Baths of Arles (El Banys) includes hot springs that have been exploited since antiquity. The Romans built baths, of which a vaulted room and a small pool. Later, in the eighth century, an abbey was founded by a certain Castellan, probably within the ancient baths. However, the Normans in raids ninth century the monks to carry around their monastery in Arles-sur-Tech, a monastery that still exists today.

The baths depended on the abbot of the monastery who moved to Arles until 1237, when the lord of Roussillon and Vallespir, Nunyo-Sanche, in fact the acquisition. Only the parish church of Saint-Quentin remains under the jurisdiction of the Abbot of Arles.

Around 1670 a fort, which still exists today, is established over the village to defend the Spanish border. The town took the name of Fort-les-Bains. On 7 April 1840, King Louis-Philippe renamed the village in Amelie-les-Bains, the name of his wife Marie Amelie de Bourbon.

Until the Revolution, the village of Palalda was called Palaudà, referring to a "palace" (or rather a mansion), which occupied the present site of the village. Indeed, many of the "palaces" existed in the region: to Saint-Jean-Pla-de-Corts or Céret to name a few. Palalda is first mentioned in the ninth century. The lordship passed into the hands of many families over the centuries. The fortifications that we see today are the work of Guillaume-Hugues de Serralonga (first known lord of Palalda), which built to 1250. The site still retains its medieval character, with room in the middle of the old castle overlooking the Church of St. Martin.