Reservations to access, Sunday June 26, 2022, two creeks of the Calanque de Sugiton, in Marseille, opened this Thursday June 23 at 9 a.m. on the site of the Calanques National Park.
Attendance at these fragile Mediterranean natural areas will be limited this summer to 400 people per day, a first in France.
By early afternoon, the site was full.
;
“The Calanque de Sugiton is marked by slopes that some visitors can climb, and in doing so the land slides towards the beach.
This weakens the soil, endangers the scrubland, risks uprooting some of the oldest trees in the pine forest and tramples the young pine shoots
,” explains Zacharie Bruyas, in charge of communication for the Calanques National Park.
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120 places sold out in 30 minutes
Access to the tiny beaches of Sugiton and Fallen Stones as well as their immediate surroundings will therefore be limited
on Sunday June 26
, but also on
July 3
and every day
from July 10 to August 21
.
Reservations, free and limited to five people per file, can be made from three days before the desired date and until 6 p.m. the day before, on the Calanques National Park website or application.
They are impossible on site and on the same day.
Children under three do not need.
Between 2 and 3 p.m. this Thursday, the 400 places had already all been reserved.
“In half an hour, 120 places had already gone.
This is surely a phenomenon due to the implementation of the system.
We would have liked it to take a little longer, but it's quite difficult to predict
, ”says Zacharie Bruyas, who remains confident in the adherence of the Marseillais to the measure.
“
Many tell us that they no longer go to Sugiton because there are too many people.
»
Read alsoYou will need a visitor's permit to see the Calanques of Marseille this summer
68 euros fine for offenders
Since mid-May, the Park has been engaged in a vast communication campaign, by way of posters but also on social networks, to inform the public of these new booking methods, a first in a French national park.
“Over the past five years, development work has been carried out to channel the public.
They bear fruit in winter and autumn, but are insufficient during peak attendance in summer
,” says Zacharie Bruyas.
Agents will be present throughout the summer along the access path to the calanque, which winds through the scrubland, to inform visitors of the need to have a visitor's permit before they reach the QR code checkpoints.
Within the reserved area, security and police officers will carry out random checks.
People who do not have a ticket will be fined 68 euros.
The reservation system, tested for the first time this summer by the Calanques National Park, may change.
"We want to believe that a large part of the public is sensitive to the fact that we want to preserve the environment
," said one of the Park's officials in mid-May.
This system, unprecedented in France, has already inspired other natural sites in France.
The regional council of Corsica has adopted a report providing for the establishment of quotas this summer, in particular on the Lavezzi islands of the Bouches de Bonifacio.