“What a damn day!
From Saturday the curfew will be implemented and, this morning, we are told the cancellation of the Christmas market in Strasbourg, it's terrible!
Imagine Paris deprived of its Eiffel Tower. ”
Like Marianne, a mother living in the city center, many Strasbourg residents were stunned this Thursday in the streets of the Alsatian capital.
"I was convinced that the town hall would manage to find a solution to maintain this event" confides Joshua, an 18-year-old high school student from the Krutenau district.
It was during a solemn press conference that Jeanne Barseghian, the new ecological mayor of Strasbourg, communicated her decision this Thursday morning.
A large Christmas tree in Kleber Square
"I opted for a Christmas market without chalets", she said, taking care to specify that the festivities "were now focused on (the animation) Strasbourg, capital of Christmas".
The people of Strasbourg will indeed find the large Christmas tree on Place Kléber from November 2, as well as the traditional illuminations to "keep a Christmas atmosphere".
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Not enough to alleviate the anger of the fairgrounds directly concerned by the removal of the 300 chalets: “We are 80 to be deprived of work because of the town hall.
Why did you make a decision so early?
Asked this Thursday Sassi Ben Mourdi who runs two candy stands on the Christmas market each year.
"Do not take the risk of a giant cluster"
Probably warned of the content of the health announcements communicated by the government in the afternoon, Jeanne Barseghian preferred to anticipate: “We could not leave the actors of the Christmas market in doubt.
We had to avoid the mixing of populations and not take the risk of creating a giant cluster ”.
A concern for prevention which does not calm Sassi Ben Mourdi: "We had made proposals to the town hall to comply with the health protocol, by focusing in particular on catering for visitors only at the table or the possibility of extending the scope of the festivities. to respect the rules of social distancing.
To deprive us of this event is to take away 40% of our annual turnover!
"
After the 2018 attack and the strikes
The most frequented Christmas market in Europe, with 2 million tourists, was also expected like the Messiah by the signs in the city center: “I am in shock.
After the December 2018 attack and the strikes of last year, our hotels, shops and restaurants were finally hoping for a more peaceful 451st edition ”laments Pierre Bardet, director of Vitrines de Strasbourg, an association of traders.
If the town hall ensures that "Strasbourg will still be the capital of Christmas this year with concerts and artistic performances", on the side of the fairgrounds, we are calling for "the possibility of organizing mini-parties in different places of the city so as not to die. .
Otherwise we will block the city center all the month of December ”warns Sassi Ben Mourdi.
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A hope undoubtedly showered by the announcement of the Prime Minister in the afternoon and the entry into force of the curfew in Strasbourg from Saturday.