After restaurateurs and shops and departments deemed "
non-essential
", tensions crystallize around winter sports.
In question, this Wednesday, the dissuasive measures announced against the French who would like to take advantage of the ski slopes of neighboring countries.
Indeed, questioned on the set of BFMTV / RMC, Prime Minister Jean Castex indicated that he wanted to prevent the French from going “
contaminating themselves in the ski resorts
” of our European neighbors, thus confirming a statement by Emmanuel Macron the day before.
The government therefore plans to set up random border controls, and seven days of isolation for free riders.
Read also: Skiing ban in Switzerland: "It is no longer a war against the virus, but against freedom"
For Michel Vion, president of the French Ski Federation, it doesn't matter whether the French can or cannot enjoy the Austrian or Swiss ski slopes at Christmas.
“
What worries us is when we can reopen the ski lifts in France.
It's a question of survival,
”he explains to
Figaro
.
“
As long as we do not have the possibility of opening our tracks, these measures are a good thing to limit unfair competition.
But the real subject is not there.
The real subject is that of all the ill-being of the French mountains and their call for help,
”opines Jean-Luc Boch, president of the National Association of Mayors of Mountain Stations (
ANMSM
).
The debate, indeed more political than economic, provoked strong reactions, and in particular the exasperation of the right and the center.
“
I am still waiting to know the legal basis of such a decision which, moreover, is TOTALLY inapplicable.
I remind Jean Castex that if the ski lifts are closed, the stations remain open in France.
#jeskieanoel ”,
tweeted Senator UDI from Haute-Savoie, Loïc Hervé.
For Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, the president of Debout la France, the measure is "
inapplicable and delusional
" because "
the French have the right to take the crowded metro, but not to go on a chairlift in Switzerland in the fresh air
" .
The boss of deputies LR Damien Abad did not hesitate to use the vocabulary of despotism.
“
We are in the middle of deliristan.
It is Father Fouettard who imposes a sanitary dictatorship
, ”he told AFP, condemning“
a liberticidal and totally unacceptable drift
”.
On social networks, many exasperated reactions can be read: "
La Macronie the only country in the world which opens its #Ski resorts but which closes its lifts, and worse than all its king forbids going to ski elsewhere!"
“, Can we read for example.
"
The Prime Minister is going to get checked what?
Illegal après-ski transport?
Another quipped.
"Infeasible" measures
Marine Le Pen also reacted, bouncing, unsurprisingly, on one of his favorite subjects.
"
We cannot control our borders to avoid the arrival of terrorists (like the one in Nice), illegal immigrants, traffickers, but as if by magic we can control the borders to prevent the French from going on a Swiss buttock? !
»Commented the president of the National Rally on Twitter.
"
The Prime Minister announces closed borders for the French who go to ski in Switzerland ... But no borders for terrorists and arms traffickers.
At least things are clear: only Islamist skiers will be able to pass,
”for his part published Philippe de Villiers.
“
With which administration and which customs staff?
“, For its part, questioned the CFDT of Customs in a press release.
"
For Switzerland alone, it is nearly 572 kilometers of border, more than 50 possible road crossing points, with only 9 brigades to guard the border
", explains the union, for whom the situation "will
only allow sporadic checks.
".
“
We hardly see how such measures could be implemented.
It seems very complicated to us, even infeasible
”, approves Jean-Luc Boch.
On Twitter, other Internet users have pointed out the futility of such a debate, when winter sport concerns only a tiny part of the French population.
"
8% of French people are lucky enough to be able to go on ski holidays, but the closure of the stations until January becomes a matter of state and opens the newspaper on the radio ... The first of the ropes really live in another world ...
# indecency
, an Internet user was annoyed.
In fact, a little less than 9% of the French population practices winter sports, according to figures from the Ministry of Sports and Youth in 2004. Data corroborated by
Le
Monde
, which calculated that less than 8% of the French population frequents ski resorts.
Read also: The ban on skiing causes a stir
Saturday, November 28, 70 elected officials and mountain professionals launched a petition to demand their reopening for the Christmas holidays.
Entitled “
this winter, I ski
” the manifesto collected more than 26,000 signatures.
