The sky is blue, the sea low. A huge expanse of golden sand opens up to view from the promenade du Sillon, in Saint-Malo (Ille-et-Vilaine). However, there is no one on the beach except the gulls. If the ban seems to be respected, some footprints behind the large breakwaters testify to the impatience of some.
Camille, who is taking a bike break with her two daughters, admits: they couldn't resist. “We went for a swim once while hiding in the rocks. It has been almost two months since the inhabitants of the Breton city have been deprived of the sea, of their sea. It's a bit like in a museum, you only touch with your eyes. Philippe gnaws on his brakes. "I should have been out there fishing in the water with my wetsuit," explains the sixty-something man, his finger pointing towards the vast blue. I understand that the beaches of the Mediterranean must remain closed but in Brittany or in Calvados, it is incomprehensible because there is really room. "
Like him, they are legion on the coast to take offense at the government's decision to maintain the ban on access to the beaches, at least until June 1. How to justify it even when the French are crowded in the metro or can walk in the forest? According to the Minister of the Interior Christophe Castaner, it is a question of "preventing that some make 300 km in the month of May" to take a good breath of sea air in particular during the great weekends of the Ascension and Pentecost.
"The Bretons will not leave this injustice unanswered"
In the municipalities by the sea, banners are blooming. "Give us back our beaches", can we read there. Petitions have also been launched on social networks to deconfine the 2,700 km of Breton coastline. On Facebook, a "Malouin Beach and Swimming Liberation Front" brings together more than 2,000 members who do not hide their intention to return to the sea as of May 11.
President of the local association of recreational fishermen, François Guyot calls on his members to respect the instructions “until a major event is organized. Bretons will not leave this injustice unanswered. "
The elected officials themselves are stepping up. Starting with the president of the region, the socialist Loïg Chesnais-Girard: “Our beaches are our parks and our gardens. I plead that, under the authority of the mayors, we can reopen them as quickly as possible without taking risks for our health. "
"We see this decision as a punishment"
Mayors wrote to the prefects and around sixty deputies wrote to the Prime Minister. On the night of May 6 to 7, the Senate adopted, against the advice of the government, an amendment authorizing individual sports on the beaches. For the tan on the other hand, it is niet.
“The Bretons are not going to war but they live this decision as a punishment. Myself, on May 11, I will not be able to control my 17 km of coast ", warns Ronan Loas, the mayor (DVD) of Ploemeur (Morbihan) who pleads for a progressive reopening starting with the hiking trails and the activities nautical.
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According to him, the prefect of Morbihan was also quite open on the issue. Brittany is not the only one to rebel, far from it. Further south, the mayor (SE) of Saint-Pierre-d'Oléron (Charente-Maritime), even if he does not have the power, took a symbolic order to reopen the beaches from Monday. "A vital measure, for breathing in a ventilated and pure air," wrote Christophe Sueur to the Head of State.