- As of Thursday, the Minister of the Interior urged vacationers in zone C not to leave far from their homes during the Covid-19 epidemic and not to reach the coast during this period of confinement.
- In order to anticipate and discourage violators, the prefecture of New Aquitaine has prohibited seasonal rentals over a very large part of the coast. A measure that affects a total of 143 municipalities, including those of the islands of Ré and Oléron or those of the Arcachon basin.
- Despite the numerous testimonies of angry locals posted on social networks, it would seem, according to the prefect of New Aquitaine, that the "message has been passed and has been respected".
Seasonal rentals prohibited, road checks with a power of 10,000… New Aquitaine took the lead on Thursday evening to discourage the French in zone C concerned by the start of the spring school holidays from coming to spend confinement “in holiday mode” on the coast . With success, if we are to believe the prefect of New Aquitaine, who assured, on Monday, that the "message [was] passed" and had "been respected". "We had taken orders to make things clear, to anticipate any inclinations. The confinement was well respected compared to what we feared, ”detailed Fabienne Buccio, during a press conference call.
It must be said that many signals had worried the elected officials of ultra-tourist municipalities. The calls asking specialists in green spaces to come to mow the lawns of second homes have multiplied in recent days, as reports South West , the telephone lines of the tourist office of Marennes-Oléron were busy, new announcements from rentals were posted in early April (and are still available) on Airbnb or, according to the mayor of Lège-Cap-Ferret (Gironde), "second home openings were observed in the middle of the night".
“The weather is good and we can understand that reaching the coast is tempting. However, anyone caught traveling without valid reason cannot continue on their way. She will have to start from where she comes from. There will be a fine and the obligation to return home, ”warned Fabienne Buccio.
Seasonal rentals prohibited until April 15
The prefect had already prohibited access to the beaches from March 18. Thursday, the one who is also prefect of the Gironde therefore repeated the exercise and prohibited seasonal rentals on a very large part of the coast. The prefectures of Charente-Maritime, Landes and Pyrénées-Atlantiques have also issued a decree to this effect until April 15, the official end of the current period of confinement.
The representative of the State has not listed the municipalities concerned but has about forty on its coast, where the very touristy islands of Ré and Oléron are located. In New Aquitaine, a total of 143 municipalities are affected by these measures, i.e. 20 in Gironde, notably those in the Arcachon basin, 39 in the Landes, among them Hossegor and Capbreton, and nine on the Basque coast, including Biarritz and Saint Jean de Luz.
PICTURE OF THE DAY In Arcachon, Pereire beach was, rarely, deserted this Sunday at 3:45 pm. The confinement seemed respected here, and the police patrols are regular. Photo "Sud Ouest" / Bruno Béziat pic.twitter.com/yZEPAYbcCp
- Sud Ouest Bordeaux (@SO_Bordeaux) April 5, 2020Philippe de Gonneville, the mayor of Lège-Cap-Ferret, directly asked professional and private rental companies to "not respond positively to any requests for rental of goods". The municipality of 9,000 inhabitants [7,000 second homes, against 4,000 main ones, according to Insee 2016 figures] has "already seen arriving around 3,000 to 4,000 people before the containment measures". Today, it can no longer "accept that others arrive in their second homes or in rentals, because this additional population would jeopardize the capacity to offer care".
Access to the islands of Ré and Oléron are monitored
It would seem that these deterrence measures have finished convincing the most motivated to abandon the idea of making a Paris-Ile d'Oléron, via the departmental. On the island of Charente-Maritime, the 16 gendarmes stationed on the bridge did not intercept the slightest fault and checked "around forty vehicles in just over an hour", according to AFP. Ditto this weekend. According to the gendarmes, all the vehicles were in order and at the wheel were mainly islanders who were returning home, "even if a few number plates suggested that some had chosen to stay confined far from their main residences".
“Since March 17, it is believed that confinement is well respected. Moreover, the booking platforms are experiencing a wave of massive cancellations on the Ile de Ré, ”says Colonel Bruno Makary, commander of the Charente-Maritime gendarmerie group. In this department, 520 gendarmes were deployed at the start of the school holidays and, since Friday, access to the islands of Ré and Oléron have been monitored, while a drone is screening the beaches.
A resident of the Arcachon basin wishing to leave for a week in Bordeaux
"Departures on vacation, which were a little feared, are generally postponed," said, for his part, Captain Sylvain Guilhon, who, this Saturday, was monitoring the empty docks of Bordeaux by helicopter. What deny the testimony of locals who swarm on social networks since Friday and denounce a "saturated Ré bridge", "whole families wandering in Arcachon", markets and shops crowded on the Basin, "traffic flows intensified ”,“ black world highway entrances ”.
“The only lifts I have had are about people still walking on the beach, but they were Arcachonnais with direct access to the beach. We explained to them that this was prohibited by decree, ”says Fabienne Buccio, adding that“ the human being is what he is and that we will have to regularly step up to the plate to remind the rules ”. Asked for the umpteenth time about the non-respect of confinement, the prefect will end up sliding with a smile that the biggest "offender" was a resident of the Arcachon basin wishing to leave for a week in Bordeaux: "We didn't understand " Neither did he, apparently.
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