Why Paris beach festival could be sand-free in future
Oliver Gee - [email protected]
Published: 28 Sep, 2016 CET.
Updated: Wed 28 Sep 2016 09:51 CET
The man-made Paris-Plages beaches along the Seine River could be without sand next year, after complaints about the project's ecological footprint and the accusations that the company delivering the sand had "paid taxes" to Isis.
Paris-Plages, a staple part of the Parisian summer since 2002, might not be as golden for summer 2017.
"The City Hall is considering alternatives to the ecological difficulties," is the official word from Paris authorities, reported Le Parisien newspaper on Wednesday.
It remains unknown exactly what is meant by "alternatives", although the idea of astroturf, woodchips, or concrete don't exactly scream "beach side".
A source at the City Hall told the paper that discussions have been ongoing for several months.
Calls for a boycott of the sand have been led by Danielle Simonnet of the Left Party.
Over the summer, she voiced her concerns over the fact that the sand is delivered by the company Lafarge, which has been accused of making a deal with Isis, that alleged it paid taxes to the terror group in return for continuing its operations in Syria.
On top of this, she argued that the Town Hall needed to consider the "disastrous consequences" of mining 5,000 tonnes of sand from the banks of the Seine in the northern Eure department, and then transporting it by barge along the river.
(Photo: AFP)
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Paris-Plages, a staple part of the Parisian summer since 2002, might not be as golden for summer 2017.
"The City Hall is considering alternatives to the ecological difficulties," is the official word from Paris authorities, reported Le Parisien newspaper on Wednesday.
It remains unknown exactly what is meant by "alternatives", although the idea of astroturf, woodchips, or concrete don't exactly scream "beach side".
A source at the City Hall told the paper that discussions have been ongoing for several months.
Calls for a boycott of the sand have been led by Danielle Simonnet of the Left Party.
Over the summer, she voiced her concerns over the fact that the sand is delivered by the company Lafarge, which has been accused of making a deal with Isis, that alleged it paid taxes to the terror group in return for continuing its operations in Syria.
On top of this, she argued that the Town Hall needed to consider the "disastrous consequences" of mining 5,000 tonnes of sand from the banks of the Seine in the northern Eure department, and then transporting it by barge along the river.
(Photo: AFP)
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