“La vuelta o la multa.
The U-turn or the fine… at 135 euros, you have the choice!
»Exclaims in perfect Spanish the border police officer (PAF) on the Perthus dam (Pyrénées-Orientales).
Facing him, a Spanish van driver chooses "the vuelta", soon imitated by a couple of Swiss from Basel in their Volvo station wagon.
"This driver does not have the status of transporter, even if he was loaned this van by his boss and he has no negative PCR test of less than 72 hours", argues the police officer.
Because, since February 1 midnight, we can no longer cross the French border without providing a negative PCR test.
With three tolerances close: truck drivers, residents in France close to the border with a travel radius of 30 km and customers who come to do their shopping in the Spanish district of Els Limites in the French border village of Perthus.
"It's expensive the carton of cigarettes!"
"
Florent, a young electrician from Béziers (Hérault) has just learned this at his expense.
He protested: “I had however checked on the foreign affairs site where it is indicated that the tests are necessary for ports and airports only.
I went to La Jonquera to buy a carton of cigarettes.
I did not meet anyone.
I took the highway to go faster and voila!
If I had known, I would have gone through Le Perthus where you can access the tobacco shops in the Spanish quarter, ”he explains while waiting to receive the fine of 135 euros.
"What makes the cartridge expensive!"
He fumed.
At the A9 motorway barrier in Boulou, at the foot of the Perthus pass, on this first day of school holidays, cross-border traffic is regular but not very sustained.
“We have lost around 80% of road traffic over the past ten days.
Obviously the requirement of the test reduces exchanges.
And we control the main crossing points 24 hours a day, which also allows us to filter entries into the territory even more efficiently.
Each day of control calls for the mobilization of a hundred men (PAF and CRS) for the motorway, Le Perthus and the stations of Cerbère and Perpignan ”, adds the division commissioner Hervé Cazaux who heads the PAF of Pyrénées-Orientales .
Since February 1, his men have fined nearly 430 times (29 for the single day of this Saturday, February 6 in Perthus and Boulou).
Including a Romanian passenger bus returning to the country: 35 tickets at once.
"In Spain, I don't even know where to test myself and it pays off"
“I didn't have time to take the test in Spain and wait for the result.
So, I took the road without the test but I feel perfectly fine.
On the other hand, we must put in place controls to limit the development of the pandemic, ”recognizes Jean-Pierre, an Internet administrator who is about to leave for Mâcon, after a week spent with his mother near Barcelona. .
“I must continue on my way.
So I choose the fine because in Spain, I don't even know where to test myself and it pays off, ”he adds with a touch of fatalism.
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