A " surge " for the most tolerant, an " invasion " for the most outraged: the mass arrival of the "75" came to pass the confinement against the coronavirus in their second homes alerted the inhabitants of the Ile de Ré.
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" Macron declared that we were at war: we will see if the Rhetons have the makings of war heroes! " Friday March 13, three days before the announcement of the Head of State, Alexandra, mother of 4 children, says she felt the confinement coming: “ We live in Austria, where, because of the coronavirus, everything was already very regulated. I forced my children, scattered all over the world for their studies, to return to France before the borders closed. We all ended up on the Ile de Ré, where our house is, to spend the confinement together . ” Alexandra is one of the first “coronavirus migrants” to arrive on the Ile de Ré: “ While we have our house here and we have no other accommodation in France, the Rhetese consider us foreigners. Worse: no matter where we come from, we are "c ****** Parisians" . I did not come to France to protect myself or flee something. I just went home. Whatever the Rhetas say, I am here at home, it is my home ”.
The "invasion" of "secondary"
As soon as they arrived, the “ secondaries ” would have rushed to the Leclerc store in the “capital”, Saint-Martin-de-Ré, one of the largest stores on the island. " It was amazing, people rushed to Leclerc and Intermarché, they were very unruly, there was nothing left on the shelves, " says Figaro Charlotte, a Rhetaise living in Saint-Martin. " Customers took products from other people's shopping carts, you would have thought you were in wartime ". The tension was such that the gendarmerie had to intervene in the supermarket.
Bakeries were also stormed. "No more bread at 10 am in the bakery in my village," tweeted Thierry, an islander. "The Parisians arrived tonight en masse and this morning, in conquered territory, they emptied the shelves of the supermarket". At the start of confinement, some Rhetese also saw whole families riding their bikes, others picnicking on the beach. " We are not adapted on the island of Ré to receive so many people with this virus !!!!! In winter there are barely 3 doctors for the island !!!!!! "Said Anne-Laure on her Twitter page. Especially since the nearest hospital is on the other side of the bridge, in La Rochelle, and it is not better prepared than the others.
Lionel Quillet, president of the community of communes on the Ile de Ré, then asked the mayors to "ban city-to-city cycling links and water sports". " We are not on vacation, we are in confinement, " insisted the mayor of Couarde-sur-Mer, a municipality of 1,100 inhabitants. For its part, the Regional Health Authority has validated the reopening of the summer hospital in Saint-Martin-en-Ré, which is generally only there to absorb the massive influx of summer visitors. " We don't want to relive an Italian scenario ", explains Charlotte, now completely confined after having contracted the Covid-19, " people must adopt the attitude of" confinement " ".
More than the mass arrival of Parisians, it is indeed their behavior that most destabilizes the Rhetese. " The cleaning company with which my company works informed me that housekeepers had been contacted by residents asking them to come quickly to do the cleaning" so that the house is ready when we arrive ", when we are in full containment! “, Indignant Charlotte. Tiphaine, an employee of Leclerc, says that she is “ amazed ” to see customers asking her “ if we have beach toys or pool toys ”.
Outbreak of hatred on social networks
" You are going to saturate the small supermarkets!" You are going to spread the Virus! You are going to saturate the emergencies of La Rochelle band of Guignols! Bunch of morons! "," There will be no room for so many idiots ", " You are taking the virus to us " , " Go and spend your holidays elsewhere " , " You will saturate our hospitals " ," Because of you, we will have more enough to eat and more from the Internet, ”the islanders are indignant on social networks. " Admittedly, I do not concede the fact that people arrive like that and believe themselves on vacation, but, to see all these comments and these posts, I am a little disappointed. So much so that at one point, we no longer wanted to watch Facebook with my husband, ”admits Charlotte.
One Facebook group in particular is dividing the population. On “Rhété-Rhètes”, hateful comments are heard and the debates are heated. A surfer publishing photos of what he sees while going to get his bread from the bakery has been taken up by the whole community: " How dare you go get your bread from the bakery?" You can't take multiple baguettes from the supermarket ?? ”,“ You are supposed to be confined! " Other comments of this kind flourish according to publications denouncing the arrival of “foreigners”: “ You will have the death of our parents on your arms! "," Go home! "
“ It's a hatred that I have seen surge on social networks for 3 years now. At each summer vacation, we do not escape the incessant comments: we do not know how to ride a bike properly, we abandon our trash cans in the street… ”, notes Alexandra, who bought a house on the island there a few years. " There is clearly a whole wave of hatred against non-permanent residents on social networks that has intensified with the coronavirus ."
"I don't even feel at home anymore"
“ Since the start of confinement on the island of Ré, I have the impression of being the embodiment of the virus. People look at me badly, they speak to me badly. I don't even feel at home anymore , ”worries Audrey on Twitter. “ We cannot criticize the secondary residents, they have every right to come and confine themselves in their homes. It is logical to prefer to be cordoned off in a house with a garden than in an apartment in the city ”tempers Patrice Déchelette, the mayor of Saint-Martin. Charlotte agrees: " Of course we condemn these irresponsible behavior, but despite everything they are at home, it is their home ". Especially since these " irresponsible behaviors " are not the prerogative of all newcomers: " Some Rhet customers also do not respect safety measures, they come with their whole family to the store, " reports Tiphaine.
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“ These kinds of little wars are not new on the island. Already, when we bought the house in the 1950s, it was a war of buttons, ”reports Figaro Cécile, who regularly comes to Sainte-Marie, to the family home. “ But it was with the construction of the bridge that everything really changed: some Rhaetians felt dispossessed of their land, hence the bitterness among some. After all, not all summer visitors are the same . ” His sister, Louise, agrees: " We are in the least" touristy "village on the island and are members of a family that has been coming for 4 generations. We know the locals well, they knew our parents and grandparents, so as far as we are concerned we feel, on the contrary, a very friendly welcome and solidarity ” . His cousin Alexis, however, claims to have received some remarks from Rhet that regretted the arrival of Parisians who " were going to bring them the virus ", and who would have preferred that they stay at home.
Traders would also be delighted with the arrival of these "secondary". “ The start of the“ season ”was to be announced in the absence of Parisians and other Bordeaux residents. It would have been a disaster for all the traders on the island who live during the slack periods on the business done during the high seasons. Those we frequent tell us rather to be relieved to have a few people in addition to the premises, ”says Louise.
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" Parisians, like the Rhetese, are French, I did not think that we should consider that there are regional borders in France and that some should not be welcome in their own country, in their own house ", Louise believes, " And many second homes are not, contrary to popular belief, owned by only Parisians but by Rochelais or Poitevins, " she adds. For his part, Alexis says he has the unpleasant impression that " the people who remain in town wish that these departures be a serious problem to value their sacrifice and that their hardship is not in vain." They seem to be looking for an "enemy" to take on the role of the collaborators of the previous war in these times of "war ".