Marion Gauthier 07h17, January 24, 2022
Emmanuel Macron is going to Creuse for the first time this Monday.
A trip that should be focused on rurality and youth: the department has seen its population decrease for years.
Several measures have therefore been put in place and millions of euros have been invested to make this territory more attractive.
REPORTING
Emmanuel Macron in Creuse is a first.
The President of the Republic must begin his visit this Monday by the agricultural school of Ahun, a few kilometers from Guéret, in Creuse.
He should discuss youth and employment in rural areas with students and officials of the establishment, before heading to a multidisciplinary health center in the department to talk about medical desertification.
Nobody, nowhere
Guéret dozes, even since the announcement of the arrival of the president. "It's always like that. There's no one, anywhere," breathes Theo, hood on his head. The 17-year-old, with peroxide hair, hands in his pockets, hangs out outside a bar-tabac popular with high school students, near the town's main square. "It's true that here, there is not much for young people, agrees a friend with a smile. No shops, no nightclubs, there are only bars... Here, It's our second home!"
Behind the glass, most of the regulars are in first, at the central high school.
Some, born in Creuse, would have remained in the countryside of their childhood, "but in any case, there is nothing to do at the level of major studies", explains Colin.
Only a nursing school and CAPs, no medical school, for the teenager who sees himself as a physiotherapist.
The countryside, less considered than the city
"I only want to leave," says Theo, back in the bar.
He is not aiming for a particular training but is already dreaming of Toulouse, Bordeaux or the Paris region, after his final year.
"The closer it gets, the happier I am, he continues, but it annoys me to be here again now. I want a change, a city: we can see more people, do more things".
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The room resounds with the laughter of high school students, against the backdrop of the song "We are the champions" by Queen.
"I don't think we are considered as much as in town here," believes Theo.
Not enough transport in particular: few passages for significant distances.
"I live 40 minutes from Guéret, the only town around, reacts Oriane. As a result, I'm stuck in my room because I'm too far to do anything".
Not to mention the dependence on the car of the parents for those, like her, who do not yet have their license.
The high school student began to make wishes on the Parcoursup platform, and therefore avoided Creuse.
The Creusois "cannot stay"
About twenty kilometers away, on her doorstep, Sylvie points to the closed shutters of the village of Moutier d'Ahun: "There was a business there... here too... there is no one left". "No shops? No young people", she motto. "No young people? More than old people".
Close to retirement, the restaurateur has been looking for a buyer for 2 years, without success.
"Le Marais" gave life to the town for almost 10 years, but an accident and the first confinement, at the start of the Covid-19 epidemic, forced the fifty-year-old to close.
“If a couple of young people wanted to take over, that would be really wonderful!” exclaims Sylvie.
"But how do you expect young people to stay? You have to do 40 terminals each time to get out".
She refuses to believe that the Creusois do not want to stay, they leave, according to her, because they cannot stay.
"There is no work, there is no factory. There is nothing in Creuse".
200 less enrollments in high school in 5 years
There is the agricultural high school, a little higher.
Moreover, it was her students who sat down at Sylvie's for a long time.
The majority of them are preparing to take over the family business, but Sophie Azzolin, the CPE, is worried about seeing their numbers melt away: the establishment has lost almost 200 registrants in 5 years.
“When we studied the numbers of college classes 5 years ago, instead of 30 students, some were at 15, so we suspected that it was going to affect us,” recalls the education adviser.
Full of hope for "our beautiful department", she insists.
"Let's not say that the Creuse is the asshole of the world, that there is nothing to do there. Yes, there are things to do, there are young people and we must support them".
Like others here, she wants to believe in a Creuse revival and notes an effect of the confinements: "For sale" signs are disappearing and some shutters are reopening in the villages.