No, Parisian nightclubs have not all "cut the sound" since the start of the health crisis!
Unlike bars and restaurants which were able to reopen "under conditions" in mid-June, nightclubs - where the rules of distancing are difficult to respect - are in theory still not authorized to welcome clubbers.
Small administrative adjustments
This Monday, images of evenings organized during the weekend at the Key club, a nightclub on Boulevard de la Madeleine (9th) and at the very select Raspoutine on rue Bassano (8th) circulated on social networks.
Illegal openings organized on the sly to try to save a sector of activity that has been completely shut down for nearly six months?
"It is rather small administrative adjustments to reopen while respecting the sanitary protocol", plead in the world of the night.
“The state has banned the reopening of type P establishments (ie those with a dance floor).
But he authorized the return of customers to those classified as type N (bars and restaurants), ”explains Patrick Malvaes, president of the SNDLL (National Union of discos and places of recreation).
“Some colleagues therefore ask for their box to be classified as a bar-restaurant to welcome their customers.
The procedure is only declarative, ”he continues.
And the representative of nightclub owners evoke a certain "tolerance" for this type of practice in the capital.
Key club managers could not be contacted to confirm this.
“Friends and family” evenings
Asked, the management of Rasputin does not comment on the weekend openings either.
But the two “friends and family” evenings organized this Friday and Saturday from 10 pm to 2 am were clearly presented on the establishment's website as events in restaurant configuration.
Without dancefloor, without bar, only by reservation ... and with compulsory mask when traveling between tables.
Very theoretical rules if we are to believe the video of an evening posted on Twitter.
We see unmasked guests and revelers dancing “close together” between the tables.
"Beyond the risk of administrative closure for these establishments, the real problem is the health risk and the resumption of the epidemic", notes Patrick Malvaes, inviting his colleagues to "stop the bullshit"!
No exemption granted, assures the prefecture
“We will have to live with this virus for a very long time.
Nightlife establishments must adapt by favoring the search for alternatives outdoors, ”underlines Frédéric Hocquard, deputy mayor of Paris in charge of nightlife.
"It is feasible in compliance with sanitary rules", indicates the elected representative, citing the examples.
The Flow, which was able to reopen its terrace on the banks of the Seine after the nightclub was classified as an N-type establishment, the Wanderlust, which reduced its size and turned into a restaurant, or the Badaboum, which will open an establishment exterior on the banks of the Seine.
"Night professionals are playing along. But if the clubs use the change of category just to get around the rules, it is not acceptable," concludes the elected official.
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On the side of the police headquarters, which multiplies the controls of establishments open to the public since the deconfinement, it was indicated this Monday evening to have received "no request" and to have issued "no exemption" to the two discotheques which handed over the its this weekend.
VIDEO. Jean Roch says goodbye to his Vip Room nightclub in Paris