Restorers, artists ... They're all over the place if they want to be in a hurry.
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"
We are all essential, we are all affected
", could be read on a giant screen installed in front of the participants, who collapsed to the ground one after the other when their sector of activity was announced.
Then, in a few minutes, a black mainsail - represented by hundreds of umbrellas - covered the Place du Capitole, to the sound of the voices of tenor and former rugby player Omar Hasan.
Traders mimed their "funeral" during the demonstration on November 6, 2020 in Toulouse.
LIONEL BONAVENTURE / AFP
The event, declared in the prefecture and providing a space of 4m2 to each of the participants, was mainly organized by the Confederation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (CPME) of Haute-Garonne and brought together the catering, events, art and culture and sport in particular.
"
It is a mainly symbolic approach to illustrate the large gap between the statements of the President of the Republic and what is happening de facto on the ground
", affirms Samuel Cette, president of the CPME 31. "
As soon as the government decides to close us or force us, it is up to him to deal with the damage
”, he said, indicating that with the help of 1,500 euros from the State“
in certain cases
”,“
we can hardly buy toilet paper
” .
Very recovered, Boris Mas, boss of four bars and two bar-restaurants in Toulouse, has 90 employees and several million euros in debt.
"
We spend our life creating our business and we take everything away in a few months,
" he laments.
"
We do not want alms, we just ask for the right to work, in compliance with health measures, like those who continue to take the metro every day,
" he insists.
Jean-François Renac, president of Events 31, warns against a massacre in the events sector.
“
Our employees are on partial unemployment, but for the bosses there is nothing planned,
” he laments.
According to him, "
we will be scrapping between 80 and 120 business leaders (in events) out of the 200 in Toulouse in the next six months
", if nothing changes.
