Access to Monaco, where restaurants are open unlike France and ballets are fully booked for almost all of their performances, will be restricted on New Year's Eve and open only to visitors who have booked at the hotel.
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"
We must more than ever remain vigilant in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic
", underlined Prince Albert II on Thursday evening in a solemn speech on the new health measures in view of the end of the year celebrations.
Enclosed in French territory over 2 km2, Monaco has been relatively spared from the epidemic so far.
"Make our economy work"
The 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. curfew is maintained until January 15, with flexibility for restaurants that may close at 9:30 p.m. after evening service, he said.
For Christmas, December 24, the curfew is postponed to 11:30 p.m., said the prince.
On the other hand, for the New Year, on December 31, the curfew is maintained at 8:00 p.m., with an exemption for restaurants authorized to close at 10:30 p.m.
“
Also for the evening of the 31st, entry into the territory of the principality will be possible for non-residents with a reservation for a stay in a hotel establishment
,” he added.
He defended the choice of authorizing shows and hotel-restaurants: "
Our priority objective remains the health protection of the population (...) We must also allow our economy to function, under certain constraints, in order to preserve the better our social model
”.
The Forum Grimaldi hall thus allows the Ballets de Monaco to be among the rare dance companies to perform during this period.
Only half of the seats are sold to space the spectators, the show schedule moved forward to 4:00 p.m. and a low-cost ticketing operation (5 euros per seat) was launched in November.
“
It's not a question of profitability but above all of being able to put on shows.
Every week, all the dancers and the staff are tested,
”says Ballets, which normally perform a lot abroad.
On December 13, the whole troupe and its fifty or so dancers performed, for example, a choreography by Jean-Christophe Maillot, “
Core Meu
”, inspired by Italian tarantella.
"
It's been so long since I had not been sharing with many people at the same time, and at the same time it coincided with something very beautiful ... I'm quite upset
", confided a spectator from Nice Hélène Galmiche , 40 years old, on the way out.
