Nice (AFP)

On the Promenade des Anglais, silent since the beginning of confinement, a gull made its nest at Castel Plage, on the site of the mattresses and parasols: "Temporary occupation of the maritime domain", jokes the owner, "impatient" to know when he can reopen.

Ali Abdelhafidh is anxious to know the government's arbitrations: "It is not to open as quickly as possible, but we need a projection to organize ourselves (...) in the hope that there will still be an affluence"

From Nice to Saint-Tropez, the concern is the same. "Prohibiting access to the beaches this summer is a bit difficult to imagine and design. And if it were designed, it would be difficult to enforce it," said Var prefect Jean-Luc Videlaine in Var- Morning.

In Nice, the establishment of Mr. Abdelhafidh comes out of five months of work. The concessions had just been renewed. In season, it employs 35 people, serves grills, salads at higher prices than in a restaurant operated 12 months a year, to 80% of the clientele in Nice.

Planters placed between the towels and the mattresses make "a sort of oasis" on the pebbles.

So the deserted beach, the blue of the sea that sparkles but where bathers shine by their absence, "it's beautiful but it kills the margin!", He says. "There are a lot of people who are quite fans of this, who come in winter or early in the morning when there is hardly anyone, nor the noise of the city. For us, it's a little sad: the first rays of the sun, the first moments of freedom ". The season usually starts around Easter.

Heavy smoker, frequent traveler and a month sick with coronavirus, he puts into perspective: "Our objective is not to earn money but not to lose it". Besides the date, he is waiting to know the conditions for a possible reopening.

- "Many unknowns" -

"This is not the hospital here. If you have to open with gloves and masks, I don't think people will enjoy coming ...", he said when referring to the "trikini", a joke of internet users imagining a small two-piece with matching mask. "The what ?!", he laughs. "I'm leaving the profession !!".

René Colomban, the president of the Nice beach owners, hopes to "reopen it as soon as possible". He claims an exception for beaches, 14 establishments in Nice brewing between 1 and 4.5 million euros in turnover and 500 jobs: "We are outdoors!", He argues.

He also proposes to "revert to the old measures before the beach decree of 2006 (on the protection of the coastline) which would restore us 12 to 15 meters per establishment and would allow to lay 30 to 40 more spaced mattresses".

In the meantime, in Nice, the metropolis has renounced 2nd and 3rd quarter rents and asked the State to do the same for the fees due for the occupation of the maritime domain.

The same goes for Cannes, where the Croisette beach was enlarged at great cost two years ago. Fresh sand, the equivalent of four to five Olympic swimming pools, had been bought, but today, without movie stars or conventioneers, it is crossing the desert.

"There are a lot of unknowns: what will be the restrictions, what will be the crowds, will there be enough people, will people want to move? The post-deconfinement will surely give us answers ", questions the president of the Cannes beach managers Olivier Rotondaro, who has been holding the" Rado Beach Helen "with his family for two generations. "It is an eco-system, hotels will find it difficult to reopen if the beaches do not reopen and vice versa".

"Spacing the deckchairs and tables is not the problem. We estimate that we have lost 70% of annual turnover because the bulk of the season at Cannes takes place between March and June. to bring the destination to life, "says Patrice Roussel, from L'Ondine beach.

© 2020 AFP