A new, free urban beach will open at the end of June 2024 in the center of Marseille, at the foot of the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations (Mucem), the town hall announced on Thursday, which intends to reduce inequalities in terms of access to swimming areas.
During the summer period, until the end of August, the project will consist of the installation of wooden pontoons to allow swimmers to enjoy a supervised body of water of 3000 square meters, between Fort Saint-Jean, Mucem and the replica of the Cosquer cave, very close to the Old Port.
A deliberation will be voted on Friday in the municipal council to approve the project, the budget of which is 6.5 million euros for three seasons.
“It costs much less than a swimming pool, and it will also be double in terms of swimming area what is offered by an Olympic swimming pool
,” argued Hervé Menchon, deputy mayor in charge of the sea and the coast. , specifying
“aim for June 21”
for the official opening of the site, access to which, free of charge, will not be subject to any gauge.
A city “cut in two”
The following two summers, the site will be open from the beginning of June to the end of August.
The second largest city in France already has several beaches, such as that of the Catalans or the Prophète, but they are mainly located in the south of the Phocaean city.
“This city has been split in two for years and years, and access to swimming – like schools, like libraries, like transportation, like a lot of other issues – is an example of that”
, lamented Anthony Krehmeier, sector mayor of the 2nd and 3rd arrondissements, during a press briefing on Thursday.
In these two districts, there are
“90,000 inhabitants, zero swimming pools.
It's as if there was no swimming pool in Avignon!
“It wouldn’t even be imaginable and yet it’s the case here in Marseille
,” he insisted.
Without giving a date, the municipality specified that ultimately, a 1.30 m deep floating swimming pool will be installed on this site to allow swimming to be learned.