Seen from the Arcachon Bay from the Pilat dune - Mickaël Bosredon / 20Minutes

  • Closed since March 17 due to the Covid-19 epidemic, the Pilat dune must make adjustments before reopening.
  • Two paths, one going up, the other going down, will be created to access the dune.
  • The staircase which is installed part of the year, can only be taken to climb to the top of the dune, the descent will be by sand.
  • The loss for the dune site is already estimated at 345,000 euros for the closing period.

She would have liked to be able to reopen to visitors this weekend, like the beaches of the Arcachon basin which she overlooks. But the Dune du Pilat is not a machine that is restarted like this. “We will nevertheless try to be consistent with the opening of the beaches, and aim for an opening on May 28; it seems difficult to me that it is before ”reveals us this Friday the president of the mixed union of the Dune of Pilat, Nathalie Le Yondre.

“The site requires a few adjustments to be able to welcome visitors, explains the elected official. In particular, we will have to create, from the visitor reception area, an upward direction which will locate behind the shops, and a downward direction in front of the shops. To do this, it is necessary to rearrange part of the accesses. "

Relocation of the staircase on May 25, 26 and 27

In addition, the site is equipped with a staircase for part of the year. Which was to be installed the week that containment was ordered. So, “we haven't done it yet, but it's a pretty heavy machine. It will be reinstalled on May 25, 26 and 27. »And new this year, due to the health rules due to the coronavirus epidemic: it can only be used to climb, the descent will be by sand.

The Dune of Pilat - M.Bosredon / 20Minutes

"We are also working to limit the number of accesses to the site, by restricting the number of cars simultaneously," continues Nathalie Le Yondre. There will be only 560 vehicles simultaneously (against 750 in normal times), this is a calculation that has been made according to the surface area of ​​the site and according to social distancing standards. However, there will be no time limit for visiting the dune, because we know that on average our visitors stay just under two hours. We will inform them in advance, especially on peak days, in July and August. "

"The month of June will allow us to test the device"

All signage work will also be carried out. “The idea is to inform and educate the visitor. Traders will also do this work inside their shops. The month of June will allow us to test the device, to test the teams, but we are counting on our visitors to respect the precautionary measures. "

It remains to be seen whether the public will actually be there. “Our concern is obviously a collapse in visits, which would cause a collapse in revenue, even if we know that some of our traditional visitors will continue to come to our site. The loss due to confinement, already amounts to 345,000 euros for the period from the closure on March 17 until May 28, or 24% of annual revenue.

The Dune du Pilat usually welcomes 1.4 million visitors a year, with peaks in attendance at 11,000 visitors per day on certain days in July and August. We will be very far this year.

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  • Deconfinement
  • Society
  • Covid 19
  • Coronavirus
  • Aquitaine
  • Bordeaux
  • Arcachon