Le Figaro Nice
In Roquefort-les-Pins, a small town of barely 7000 souls perched between Nice and Antibes, the annual investment budget is about 8 million euros. That is as much as the incredible legacy that the municipality has just received from one of its citizens, who died in the spring of last year. Information revealed by Nice Matin and confirmed to Le Figaro by the City Tuesday afternoon.
The generous donor is none other than a child of the commune, Romaine Carlès. Dead at the age of 100, the latter lived for a century in the family home of her parents, themselves originally from Roquefort-les-Pins. "She was a very discreet woman, appreciated in the commune and whom the mayor knew well. She was a piano teacher," says France Zattara, head of office and communication at the town hall. In the twilight of her life, Romaine Carles had neither husband nor children. In other words, no relative to whom to bequeath the family fortune, consisting mainly of bank assets, land and several houses located in the commune. A small prize estimated at 7,956,335 euros.
When writing her will, the old lady decided to designate Roquefort-les-Pins as the sole heiress. "We have to admit that it was a surprise for everyone. She hadn't told anyone, not even her neighbors and friends," Zattara France said. Even more surprising, it turns out that Romaine Carlès had made this decision a long time ago, twenty years before taking her last breath.
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Generosity on two conditions
Generosity comes with two conditions. First, to maintain and watch over his funerary monument, and then to open a school in the commune or a rest home for disabled people on one of its grounds. At this stage, the municipality intends to prioritize the opening of a school, a project in the pipeline for some time now. "It couldn't have come at a better time! There is a lack of schools in the municipality, and especially land to build them, "says the municipal official.
The family home of the deceased, located in the Colombier district, could soon become a new primary school. As for whether it will bear the name of its benefactor: "I think the mayor will give it its name without hesitation!" says France Zattara. Still according to the will of Romaine Carlès, the entire amount of her bank assets, i.e. 679,687 euros, will be paid to the Society for the Protection of Animals (SPA). And if there is some money left, it should be used to finance the redevelopment of an old building to make it a cultural center dedicated to the practice of the arts.