At the bend of a narrow alley in the Saint-Jacques district of Perpignan, men, laden with pancakes and soft drinks, rush to return home to break the fast in this month of Ramadan.

"I voted for Macron. Le Pen and him are night and day, especially for people like me, the North Africans," Karim Belkebir, a 36-year-old trader, told AFP.

"In our neighborhood, there are gypsies, Arabs, we all live well together. With Macron, who does not advocate division, our culture is preserved. Marine, she would have taken us to war", underlines t -he.

The Catalan city of 120,000 inhabitants, which placed the number 3 of the National Rally (RN), Louis Aliot, at its head in the last municipal elections two years ago, granted 52.02% of the votes to Emmanuel Macron on Sunday.

Not a tidal wave, but for some the symbolism is strong.

The facade of the town hall of Perpignan on March 9, 2020 Raymond ROIG AFP / Archives

Not a disavowal

"It's a very mixed city. The working-class neighborhoods, which had voted Mélenchon in the first round, voted en masse for Macron in the second, they understood who their enemy was," said Françoise Attiba, co-president of the League. human rights in Perpignan.

In some of these polling stations, the outgoing president and candidate of La République en Marche (LREM) won more than 60% of the vote.

Demonstration in Perpignan on April 16, 2022 between the two rounds of the presidential election RAYMOND ROIG AFP / Archives

For Nicolas Lebourg, a researcher specializing in the extreme right, this vote is not, however, a sign of disavowal for Mr. Aliot.

According to him, the voters of Perpignan, one of the poorest cities in France in a department with record unemployment, do not necessarily draw a parallel between the management of the mayor and the program of his ex-companion, including the question of the national preference and Islam.

"Mr. Aliot won the city on a line which was the fusion of the rights. When he spoke of the economy, you would have gladly thought you heard a candidate from La République en Marche", he underlines.

The day after the elections, the spokesperson for Marine Le Pen welcomed her "unprecedented scores" (56.32%) in the Pyrénées-Orientales, recalling that in Perpignan, she still won 3,403 votes compared to 2017.

Some 40 km to the west, the market is in full swing in Prades, a small town of 6,000 inhabitants whose Prime Minister Jean Castex was mayor from 2008 to 2020.

On the Prades market, about forty kilometers from Perpignan, April 26, 2022 RAYMOND ROIG AFP

The RN won in the second round with 51.33%, while Jean-Luc Mélenchon came first on April 10 with 27.12%.

"Cry of Distress"

"The territory of Conflent is rural, landlocked, with a population in great social difficulty", deplores Philippe Assens, environmental activist and local politician.

For him, the inhabitants of Prades retain sympathy for Jean Castex who in their eyes embodies "the good father, even when he was Prime Minister".

"It is rather in the anti-system vote that we must look for the fall of Emmanuel Macron in Prades", he said, recalling that the crises of "yellow vests" or the health pass were "very badly experienced".

In the shade of an orange tree, in the associative café which she presides, Sarah Vasconcelos is also convinced that the RN vote is a "protest vote" there.

"It is far from being based on racism or national preference. It is a cry of distress from many young people," said this forty-year-old who rubs shoulders with people in social difficulty.

On the Prades market, about forty kilometers from Perpignan, April 26, 2022 RAYMOND ROIG AFP

Seated in a bar with his son, Clément Frenoi does not hide his RN vote.

"Macron was a president for the rich. I have lost a lot of purchasing power, I don't feel considered at all," says this 31-year-old father, public works employee.

Sparkling look, Maryse Martin, 72, also chose Marine Le Pen.

"I do not adhere to all of its program, but it is the only one that thinks of small towns, in the countryside", she says, regretting a France "more and more cut in two".

"But given the context of the crisis abroad, I don't think it was the right time to change the president!", Laughs cowardly this retiree, aware of her contradictions.

© 2022 AFP