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On the French coast, beaches could reopen this weekend

2020-05-12T18:39:18.383Z


Several prefects have cautiously raised the possibility of the public returning to French beaches.


Beaches on the French coast, from the Mediterranean to the North Sea via the Atlantic, could reopen this weekend for walks or sports, subject to acceptance of the files presented by the municipalities, announced Tuesday several prefects.

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"I will open, after examining the files that will be proposed to me, the beaches whose mayors will request the opening," said the prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes Bernard Gonzalez Tuesday morning on France Bleu Azur: "We will leave in a first time towards a use of the so-called “dynamic” beaches, that is to say for walking and access to the sea for individual sporting activities ”.

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"There will possibly be reopening this weekend, on condition that we receive files before and that they are substantiated," we also added to AFP in the entourage of the prefect. "Openings from this weekend are possible", for a "dynamic" use of the beaches, also announced the prefect of the Pyrénées-Orientales, Philippe Chopin. "Mayors who wish to reopen their beaches must submit to the prefect a file respecting precise specifications," said the prefecture.

"We hope to reopen this weekend," said the mayor of Barcarès, Alain Ferrand, the first in the department to officially request a waiver, based on a health protocol limiting in particular the size of the groups present at 10 people.

Friday verdict in Gironde

On the Atlantic side, many mayors of New Aquitaine have also submitted their files to the prefecture for the reopening of the beaches this weekend. In Gironde, the prefecture should deliver its verdict on Friday.

In the Basque Country, "we want to open as quickly as possible, that is to say this weekend," said AFP Emmanuel Alzuri, the mayor (SE) of Bidart, near Biarritz: "There has a strong pressure from the inhabitants, who wonder why we can go to supermarkets, in the mountains, in the forest, and why we can't walk on the beach or go surfing ”.

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Same situation in the North, where the mayors of the coastal municipalities have seized the prefect of a request for opening, which should get a response "during the week," announced the prefecture.

Later in Corsica

In Pas-de-Calais, several coastal municipalities, including Boulogne-sur-Mer and Wimereux, have also announced that they have requested a waiver from the prefect. "Our coastal beaches are vast and allow walking individually or with the family, individual sporting activities or fishing activities on foot, and this in complete safety and while respecting distance measures", they say in particular.

In Corsica too, the coastal communities are studying the possibility of restoring access to the beaches, even if the reopening could occur later. In Corse-du-Sud, the mayors of the coastal municipalities who wish to meet will meet by community of municipalities and should "make proposals in the course of next week to set a target for reopening before the Pentecost weekend" which begins on Saturday, May 30, said AFP prefect Franck Robine.

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Among the municipalities that want a little more time to assess the health situation is Ajaccio, one of the municipalities most affected by the Covid-19 epidemic in the Isle of Beauty.

In Haute-Corse, the question also concerns around thirty municipalities. A file to be completed by the mayors on their wishes must be sent to them on Wednesday and "the request will be examined before the end of next week," the AFP said.

Several mayors demanded the reopening of the beaches, closed since the confinement imposed for the fight against the coronavirus epidemic, to allow residents to exercise. The Interior Ministry announced on Thursday possibilities on a case-by-case basis, also for the lakes.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2020-05-12

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