Snow fell heavily in the Alps on Friday but many will not be able to enjoy it.
As announced by the government, the general public will not have access to ski lifts at ski resorts in December because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
A decree published this Saturday in the Official Journal indicates that ski lifts, chairlifts and other cable cars will not be accessible ... except for certain categories, such as professionals in the sector and minors "licensed within a sports association affiliated to the French Federation of skiing ”.
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Note that this measure takes effect "immediately" and therefore not only on the first day of school holidays.
The government justifies this decision by the risk that too much traffic in ski resorts (to which access remains authorized) will lead to numerous contaminations and a rebound in the epidemic.
It is also about preserving hospital beds because during ski holidays, many people are injured and must be hospitalized.
Anger of elected officials and professionals
The decree also indicates that operators must "ensure, as far as possible, physical distancing".
The mask will not be compulsory on a ski lift, nor on the chairlifts (provided that "each suspended seat is occupied only by one person or by persons leaving between them at least one empty space").
Even if it does not come as a surprise, this announcement should reinforce the discontent of many elected officials and mountain professionals.
Several of them had also announced Thursday an appeal to the Council of State.
“The liberty summary was filed this evening by our lawyer.
It is a real movement which is being set up with support from all political stripes, ”had then justified AFP the president of the Auvergne-Rhône Alpes region Laurent Wauquiez.
VIDEO. Closure of ski lifts: 600 mountain dwellers demonstrate in Savoie
Technically, however, the contested decree had not yet appeared.
"They may have acted in the media before thinking legally," says Serge Slama, professor of public law at the University of Grenoble Alpes.
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The reopening of the ski lifts could take place in January, depending on the evolution of the health situation.
