Bagnères-de-Luchon (France) (AFP)
Several hundred mountain professionals took part in a solidarity march in Bagnères-de-Luchon (Haute-Garonne) on Friday to demand the opening of ski resorts for the Christmas holidays and avoid an "economic catastrophe".
"Economically, it's a disaster. It's the death of our valleys," says the initiator of the event and spokesperson for the Haut Comminges collective, Christophe Deschamps, protesting against the government's decision to close the ski lifts for Christmas.
"We wonder how we can crowd in the metro and not be able to go on a four-man chairlift and descend a slope with the family", indignant this owner of a guesthouse in Luchon.
"We want to show the government that we are ready to make every effort to be able to open our stations," said Véronique, who runs a game and furniture store in the spa.
Audrey, a restaurateur denounces a "completely incoherent" decision that does not include the logic of keeping the ski lifts closed in an open resort.
"After six months of closure this year, it can cause us to lose our businesses," adds Benoît, another restaurateur in the town.
"Some departments have their emergency services saturated, but not with us," says Manon Escoubet, restaurateur on the Superbagnères estate and who pleads for territorialized health measures.
For his part, the director of the Peyragudes station insisted that the government provide "details on the compensation".
"The solidarity fund does not respond to the problem of the stations. The government is talking to us about compensation but we need to know what it will cover and what it will take as a base", he worries. .
Faced with the turmoil of mountain professionals, several regions, notably New Aquitaine, Occitanie, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Grand Est, Auvergne-Rhône- Alpes said on Thursday that they had filed an interim relief before the Council of State against the government's decision to close the lifts for the Christmas holidays.
The decision is expected early next week.
© 2020 AFP