Covid-19: Perpignan residents disappointed by the suspended reopening of their museums

The mayor Rassemblemnt national de Perpignan, Louis Aliot, decided a few days ago to reopen four municipal museums, against the health directives of the government.

The Montpellier administrative court ordered their closure on Monday, to the regret of some residents of the Catalan city. 

REPORT

It's official.

The Montpellier administrative court on Monday suspended the orders of the RN mayor of Perpignan Louis Aliot, who had decided to reopen the four municipal museums, against the health directives of the government in the midst of the Covid-19 epidemic.

Most Perpignanians expected this and therefore made the most of the last hours of operation on Monday.

Lucas and his son treated themselves to a marathon.

"We went around. We went to the Natural History Museum and then to the Hyacinthe Rigaud Museum. There, we will attack the third. We had time to visit it, which is already a good thing. We appreciated the moment with my son. "

"You don't stand in line in a museum"

Sylviane did not want to miss this opportunity to enter a museum either.

She regrets the court's decision.

“You don't line up in a museum like you queue for sales, for a department store. I think it's a shame to close,” she says.

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Louis Alliot regrets this decision

Monday morning, Louis Aliot came to plead in person at the Montpellier administrative court.

For him, improving the health situation could have made it possible to keep these museums open.

"These are museums, not theaters or cinemas. There was a protocol, as the judge also noted. But he says that it is not for the mayor to make the decision. Me, What I'm asking now is that they make the decision. There is no risk in opening a museum in the provinces. There are many more risks today in using public transport or supermarkets , it is obvious, "he explains at the microphone of Europe 1.

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The museums are therefore closed again until further notice.

But the mayor persists and suggests moreover that the ministry is inspired on the contrary by this experiment: according to him, more than 2,000 people attended in one week the four museums of the city.