First of all, it seems normal to those who travel through Le Touquet-Paris-Plage (Pas-de-Calais) this weekend of Ascension 2020. The glaciers of the very commercial rue Saint-Jean are stormed, the kitesurfs are trying to tame the wind on the South beach and the police are monitoring the second home of Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron. But quickly, the visitor's eye is attracted by the closed bars and restaurants, the signs announcing the prohibition of swimming and the hydroalcoholic gels placed prominently at the entrance of the shops. The coronavirus has been there.
Rue Saint-Jean, the glaciers are stormed. Aude Bariéty - Le Figaro
After two months of confinement, the seaside resort of the Opal Coast has come back to life with relief for the past few days. "It was dead," breathes Jean-Claude, 76, happy to finally see "from the world to Le Touquet" . " It was hard, " adds a VTC driver. “Normally, during this period I have to refuse race after race because I have so many customers. There, I am far from it ... " Only Bertrand, " Touquettois of always " , seems almost nostalgic of his " confinement of dream " , him who could go to see the sea without exceeding the limit of the kilometer.
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More than any other city in Hauts-de-France, Le Touquet lives from tourism and its second homes. "My city is 4,100 inhabitants a year, 15 to 18,000 people who come on weekends, 35 to 40,000 during bridges or holidays, and up to 100,000 on long summer days ," said the mayor LR Lilyane Lussignol. The deconfinement of May 11, the possibility of moving within a radius of 100 kilometers, the reopening of the beaches and most of the shops, the resumption of certain sports activities (golf, tennis, horse riding ...) were therefore highly anticipated.
The "catastrophic" situation of shops
Despite these advances, traders make faces. Janick, a saleswoman at Comptoir des Cotonniers rue Saint-Jean, has to deploy treasures of persuasion to encourage her rare customers to wear a mask in her shop, and as much patience to disinfect her booths after each fitting. But it is nothing compared to its vertiginous loss of turnover, which the thirty-something refuses to reveal. " The figures are catastrophic, " she simply slides, admitting " not optimistic " for the months to come. "We are completely in the dark ..."
A few issues later, Valérie, a saleswoman at La Belle-Îloise, confirms Janick's feelings: "There are fewer customers ... The situation is catastrophic" , underlines the forties. In a perpendicular street, the receptionist of a hotel simply sighs: "It's more like before ...". All three are however aware of their luck to have been able to reopen, which is not the case for certain other businesses. "The city is not the same without its bars, restaurants, nightclubs," laments Daniel Fasquelle, LR deputy for Pas-de-Calais and former mayor of Le Touquet.
The stakes are high: no successful summer season without restaurants, nightclubs, town and beach bars. And it is unthinkable for Le Touquet to ignore the summer, especially the year when the French are encouraged to go on vacation near their home. In the longer term, beyond July and August, it is the survival of the smallest and most fragile businesses. "Without the peaks of the beautiful weekends in April and May, some will not pass the winter," fears Daniel Fasquelle. A concern shared by the driver VTC, himself a former restaurateur.
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Lilyane Lussignol wants to be resolutely optimistic. “I think the end of the season can be saved. The city will evolve, adapt, ”she says. She hopes that the cultural events of August - Touquet Music Beach Festival, Pianos Folies - can be held. The museum is scheduled to reopen in July. The brand new Palais des Congrès is ready to use. Beach clubs are just waiting for the green light. To attract visitors, a campaign to promote Le Touquet, centered around a promise of "serenity" , is being rolled out.
Lilyane Lussignol, the mayor of Le Touquet, in her office. Aude Bariéty - Le Figaro
Swimming prohibited
Obviously, the mayor also counts on the flagship asset of his city: the sea. The breath of fresh air for two months of confinement, finally accessible. To take advantage of this, some do not hesitate to defy the limit of 100 kilometers. “We respected confinement to the letter. There, we had enough ” , confess Laurence and Régis, who live in the suburbs of Lille, ... 105 kilometers from Le Touquet, where they have a second home. And they are not the only ones, confirms the manager of a downtown store, who sees on loyalty cards where her customers come from ...
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Dorothée and Thomas, accompanied by their sons Théo and Noé, only covered 50 kilometers. Even if they live in a house with a garden, this day-long getaway delights them. "The confinement was not great, I'm happy to have come," slides Theo without getting off his bike. His parents were however surprised at certain measures implemented, in particular the division of the beach into three distinct zones and the prohibition of swimming. "Anyway, swimming in May at Le Touquet is only the heat wave years , " smiles a regular at the seaside resort.
Dorothée, Thomas, Théo and Noé on the embankment of Le Touquet Aude Bariéty - Le Figaro
In order to ensure compliance with these instructions, the city notably mobilized a team of “beach ambassadors” , made up of eight young people who usually work in the summer as lifeguards. Driving his 4x4, Lucas, 21, patiently explains to a father that he cannot make sandcastles with his children, because it is a static activity; indicates to another that the kite is only possible on the South beach; uses his megaphone to call to order young people practicing bodyboarding outside the authorized zone ...
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"Some people pass the signs without even reading them," says Hugo, 19, shaking his head. "Our action works with the vast majority of people, " adds Romain, 25 . “Only a few do not want to hear anything and think that they have all the rights because the beach is reopened, completely forgetting the health context. For it to work, people have to change their habits . ” Not always easy, especially when it comes to sacrosanct beach huts, which must remain closed for the time being. An important issue in Le Touquet.