Advertisement

Paris announces nighttime closures in new crackdown on bars

AFP/The Local France
AFP/The Local France - [email protected]
Paris announces nighttime closures in new crackdown on bars
Illustration photo: A police car is seen, on October 17, 2020 in Paris, at the start of a curfew implemented to fight the spread of the Covid-19. AFP

Restaurants and bars offering takeout services will, along with shops that sell alcohol, must close at 10pm starting November 6th, according to new rules.

Advertisement

"I wouldn't call it a curfew, as it does not concern all places in the city," Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo told BFMTV on Thursday morning.

Hidalgo made the announcement without revealing the full details of the new rules, merely saying they  would target "places where there had been problems" in particular with crowds of people gathering outside bars that were offering a takeaway service.

 

The details were specified in a decree published by the Paris police later on Thursday.

Starting November 6th, all establishments selling takeaway and alcoholic beverages would have to close their doors completely between 10pm and 6am. Shops selling alcohol were also included in the new rules.

Consumption of alcoholic beverages out in public would also be banned between those times, according to the decree.

 

Advertisement

The decision to toughen the rules came following reports that the second lockdown was less rigorously respected than the one this spring. 

Police in Paris performed 100,000 stops over the weekend and handed out 14,000 fines, according to government spokesperson Gabriel Attal.

Attal announced the plans to impose an evening curfew across the capital, but the prime minister's office Matignon promptly denied that any such decision had been made.

READ ALSO France could reinstate nighttime curfew in Paris region on top of new lockdown 

Since the end of the first lockdown spring, the government has taken heat from several local authorities for their  'top-down' approach, and have been accused of failing to properly consult with mayors before making decisions.

The current decision in Paris seems to have been a compromise between local and national authorities.

Advertisement

New announcement to come

Health Minister Olivier Véran was due to give an update on the crisis later on Thursday, and media reports speculated he would unveil even tougher restrictions as hospitals kept filling up.

Hidalgo described a "very worrying situation" in the capital and its suburbs, and said she had proposed that extra space be made available for school classes to ensure adequate social distancing for pupils and staff.

Libraries, theatres and gymnasiums emptied by the new lockdown could be put to use, she said.

 

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also