Cherbourg: Christmas market traders rail against the pass – actu.fr

Through Baptiste hue
Published on 10 Dec 21 at 7:00

La Manche Press

See my news

Yesterday morning, regulars at the Cherbourg market could access the merchant stalls without having to present the health pass. At the same place, from 2:30 p.m., it was necessary to flash your QR code to enter the Christmas market. Find the mistake… (© La Presse de la Manche / Jean-Paul BARBIER)

AT Cherbourg-en-Cotentin (Manche), Thursday and Saturday mornings, the food markets on Place De Gaulle are not subject to the health pass. On the other hand, you must necessarily flash your QR code attesting to a complete vaccination to enter inside the Christmas market … in the same place.

While it is difficult to establish a hierarchy in the inconsistencies observed since the start of the pandemic, it is certainly in a good position.

At 2:29 p.m., a person can come to the market without a health pass. And from 2:30 p.m., we ask him for a pass for the Christmas market. There is nothing more to understand in relation to such a decision!

Eric BozecOwner of the carousel and of a fancy kiosk

” We walk on the head “

“We walk on the head,” slips one of the people assigned to control the pass at the entrances.

For traders, who spent between 600 and 1,000 euros to run a chalet, the obligation to present the health pass would be, in part, at the origin of the low attendance recorded this year on the Christmas market.

From this Thursday, December 9, distraught by “commercial failure” and “the fear of not amortizing their investment”, some of them were already selling off their stock. “There are people who don’t have the pass. I also know people who have it but who don’t want to come here on principle. They do not condone the fact of having to show the pass to come to an outdoor place, ”says Laëtitia Michel, one of the shopkeepers.

Between the obligation to present your pass and the search of bags at the entrance, the magic takes a hit. People are not in the Christmas spirit! There are kids looking at Santa Claus over the barriers. It hurts your heart and it gives a really creepy picture of life in the Covid era. The market is very pretty, very attractive, but the party is ruined. And the weather is not helping us …

“This government decision is an additional inconsistency”

Benoît Arrivé, Mayor of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin: “During the inauguration of the Christmas market, I have already had the opportunity to denounce this difference in treatment between the food market and the Christmas market. This government decision is a further inconsistency. It is a ministerial decision and the town hall does not have the right to oppose it. We will soon have a new meeting with the préfet, and we are going to question him again on this issue. But, for the moment, we are not heard. And unfortunately, wherever there is a demand for a health pass, there is a drop in attendance. “

A request for exemption from the prefect

This sausage seller has written to the prefect of La Manche to denounce what she considers to be an aberration, and try to obtain a dispensation to remove the pass at the entrance. “The organizers of the Cherbourg market are only applying the prefect’s directives in terms of health measures. […] There are no exceptions, ”he was told.

For the prefecture, the presentation of the sanitary pass applies to Christmas markets because it is a place where we have to eat and drink. “And it’s not the same in the food markets, perhaps?” People also take off the masks to taste the products, ”retorts Laëtitia Michel.

The worst part is that there is a Christmas market in the Éléis shopping arcade which is not subject to the health pass, although it is a covered place …

For this Urville resident, “they’re killing the thing. Next year, traders will no longer want to come. On the big, very dense Christmas markets like Paris or Strasbourg, I can imagine the usefulness of the health pass. But here, it is ventilated, the mask could be enough. This decision should have been regionalized, ”she said, declaring herself powerless in the face of the situation.

“Unfortunately, I don’t have Macron’s phone number,” she says, with a tight smile that betrays her despair in the face of the staggering “emptiness” of Place de Gaulle.

Has this article been useful to you? Know that you can follow La Presse de la Manche in space My News . In one click, after registration, you will find all the news of your favorite cities and brands.

” We walk on the head “

“This government decision is an additional inconsistency”

A request for exemption from the prefect

1 thought on “Cherbourg: Christmas market traders rail against the pass – actu.fr”