- The cancellation of their annual pilgrimage to Saintes-Maries de la Mer (Bouches-du-Rhône) is a disappointment for the traveling community.
- This decision, justified by the coronavirus pandemic, is generally respected on this Ascension weekend.
An overwhelming sun, a little breath of wind and almost no passerby. The village of Saintes-Maries de la Mer has a strange face on this Ascension weekend. We meet, in the deserted streets, many gendarmerie cars. Sixty soldiers check that the prefectoral decree of May 15 is well respected: it prohibits access to the town "to any non-resident or entitled. "
The two roads that lead to the village are cut by plastic barriers. Gendarmes or municipal police check any vehicle that arrives. The Enedis agent who comes to repair a line can return. This village dweller too. However, this couple of Belgian tourists must turn around. Only year-round residents, landowners and contractors have access to the Saintes-Maries this weekend. The prefect and the mayor of the commune made this decision jointly.
" No problem "
"Meetings of more than ten people are prohibited, reminds 20 minutes the prefect of police Emmanuel Barbe. To avoid people coming anyway, despite the cancellation of the pilgrimage by the organizers, we preferred to prohibit access from a legal point of view. At the beginning of the weekend, he said that the operation was a success: "The message has been received, things are going very well. "
"There is no problem," confirms Mayor Roland Chassain (LR), who also wanted this cancellation of the pilgrimage: "Between 20,000 and 30,000 people in our village, knowing that the bars and restaurants are closed, it was not liveable at the level of barrier gestures! "
"A heartbreak for our community"
Representatives of the gypsy community and religious leaders had reached the same conclusions. “It is a heartbreaker for our community, which has been waiting for the pilgrimage for a year and who was really looking forward to meeting again after two difficult months. But it's a good decision for our health, ”said Payou Baptiste, one of the community's spokespeople. Gypsies are in the habit of praying to Sara the Black Virgin.
A handful of the faithful were able to participate in a mass followed via Facebook by hundreds of gypsies: "This is not a normal situation, but we are forced to do so, sighs the rector Jean-Rémy Falciola. The coronavirus has not disappeared: it would have been dangerous to come en masse to Saintes-Maries! "
Pilgrimage of the gypsies 3 years ago
In 2017 holy maries of the sea. Pic.twitter.com/zYxF9nb4fh
For Saintois merchants, this cancellation is a serious blow. Here they are deprived of a significant part of their annual turnover. "This cancellation is a real economic shortfall in a town that has already suffered from confinement: 140 closed restaurants and bars, it hurts," sighs Mayor Roland Chassain. "We usually make very big figures during the pilgrimage," confirms a baker. She approved, however, of the authorities' decision: "Health comes before everything else!" "
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