the escape of , who managed to escape by threatening guards with a dummy gun. The last prison 'personality' of Mende, , activist of the alongside José Bové, was imprisoned after the case of the McDonald's franchise destruction in Millau. Twin towns – sister cities Mende is twinned with: Wunsiedel, Germany (1980) Volterra, Italy (1993) Vila Real, Portugal (2003) Since 2007, the cities of Wunsiedel and Volterra are also paired together. The twinning with Vila Real (much more populous than the city of Mende) is explained by the fact that a large part of the Portuguese population of Mende, and Lozère in general, is from this region. Population and society Demographics Demographic evolution In contrast to the department of Lozère, the prefecture saw its demographic curve draw increasingly since the French Revolution. If the department was strongly affected by the and the great wars of the 20th century, the city had the presence of its own authorities. This may explain why Mende has not experienced the same trend as Lozère. This table shows the demographic for the town of Mende, but it can be considered that the bassin Mendois [Mende area] follows the same trend. In 2017, the commune had 12,134 inhabitants. Age structure The Mende population is fairly young taking into account the ageing population of Lozère. Compared with the 1990 census, it is the age group of 15–29 years which has had the greatest increase at the expense of those aged 0–14 and 30–44 years. The number of near-centenarians was also greater in 1999 than in 1990. Immigration In Mende, the share of the immigrant population represents about 8% of the total population. They originate mostly from Portugal (mainly from Vila Real), Morocco, Algeria, and Turkey. This being the image of immigration in the region. The Spanish immigration, which was very present in the middle of the twentieth century, has been disappearing since the 1970s. Education Mende has three nursery schools: Solelhons (the small Suns in Occitan), the Chênes school and Fontanilles school. They are in close relations with the primary schools of the Groupe solaire, Annex Michel del Castillo School and Fontanilles School, Jeanne d'Arc School dealing with private education. The public college of Henri-Bourillon is located in the former small seminary, and share places with the Lycée Chaptal. It hosts students from the city as well as a number from other neighbouring municipalities (Badaroux, Barjac, Chanac,