At the Franco-Swiss border, the pool of discord

For a little over a week, residents on the border of the Swiss Jura have not been able to cool off in the waters of the municipal swimming pool in Porrentruy. The city announced, in a press release posted on July 29, that its access would be reserved for people residing in Switzerland from July 30.

The reason ? “Ensure public order and health security (Covid-19) within the municipal swimming pool”, explains the city on its site. People wishing to swim will therefore have to prove that they live in Switzerland by showing an identity document.

“The wardens (lifeguards, editor's note) will actively ensure that the directive for the use of the municipal swimming pool is respected; in the event of refusal to comply, the persons concerned will be notified to the security service and escorted outside the enclosure of the municipal swimming pool. Prohibition procedures remain reserved in serious cases, ”adds the city. The measure is temporary.

"Spitting, injuring, pushing"

This ban on access is also explained by the rise of incivility caused by young French people. “These bands practice exclusion. They attribute a kind of territory in the swimming pool, on which no one can come any more, testifies the mayor of the city, Gabriel Voirol, in Le Quotidien Jurassien.

"Then there are verbal and physical assaults, spitting, insults, pushing and people who do not respect the safety instructions", he adds, assuring on Radio Fréquence Jura that a police presence was sometimes necessary, but that she saw herself overwhelmed.

The decision was contested by local elected officials, notably Socialists and Greens. It "sends a bad signal, feeds divisions and stirs up the nauseating debates which are crazy about social networks", judge in particular the Socialists, quoted by Radio Fréquence Jura. The Jura Socialist Youth has also launched a petition to reopen the pool to non-Swiss. The government of the region was also seized this week to assess the legality of this ban.

We ask the municipality of #Porrentruy to reconsider its discriminatory and absurd decision about the swimming pool. Sign our petition here 👉 https://t.co/zHF6Tkmx5A pic.twitter.com/nDCEFPIuLp

For his critics, this measure also marks the rise of anger unfairly targeting the French. "For several years, we have felt a somewhat anti-French climate that I personally find detestable and particularly unwelcome for our region," lamented Fabrice Berret, advisor to Cornol, a neighboring town, still on Radio Fréquence Jura.