Will one of Marseille's creeks become... naturist?
This is the wish of a collective which has just requested a municipal decree so that the Calanque des Pierres-tombées is officially recognized as a naturist area.
In this area 100 meters long and adjoining the Calanque de Sugiton, naturism has been tolerated for a very long time.
To discover
Stays in France: weekends, hotels and tailor-made stays from our partners
“
I have been going to Pierres-tombees since 1978 and it has always been a place frequented by naturists
,” Anne-Marie Catella, the originator of the project
, told the newspaper
La Provence .
The request, signed by a hundred people, was submitted on March 23 to the deputy mayor in charge of the Sea, Hervé Menchon (Europe Écologie Les Verts), in favor of the project.
“
It is a request that I support.
It is part of the recognition of a site historically marked by this practice
,” he told
La Provence
.
It was in Marseilles that the first association of naturists in France was born in 1930.
Read alsoYou will need a visitor's permit to see the Calanques of Marseille this summer
The shadow of overcrowding
For regulars, formalizing a naturist area would counter the increase in attendance observed in recent years in the Calanques National Park.
Naturism is also included in the Park's charter, which recalls that the practice dates back to 1925. To better control the flow of visitors, a permit will be put in place this summer to access the nearby creek of Sugiton.
Objective: limit the number of visitors to 200 or 300 per day, against 1,500 during peak times.
“
When onlookers see that there is no more room in the creek, they settle in Pierres-tombées.
We find ourselves doing the police, having to justify ourselves, managing the voyeurs and the boats that set up shop anyhow... Recognizing the site would be a way of clarifying things and being able to save a practice
”, details Anne-Marie Catella.