A gap still persists between La Grande-Motte, considered “posh” and Palavas-Les-Flots, which is trying to revive its popularity.
“Do you want to talk about delinquency? Go and have a look at Palavas!” Among the merchants of La Grande-Motte, it is a sentence that is unanimous. The “rabble” is not at home, but at their Palavas neighbors.
A reputation that the town is struggling to get rid of. Even if the seaside resort is in 13th position in the Figaro ranking, Palavas-Les-Flots is struggling to restore its image after the overflows and the heavy media exposure. Two years ago, when the borders were closed due to a health crisis, the station had to respond to a greater influx. Fights on the beach and in the town centre, verbal and physical attacks, including the stabbing of a 14-year-old at the carnival, demonstrations against night rodeos… Palavas-Les-Flots has a history behind it particularly complicated.
On the right bank, the mornings and late evenings are rather calm, “even very quiet” said Céline, who manages a carousel. “We wanted to move to the left bank, since that’s where there is the most entertainment. But people told us that if we changed places, they would no longer come to see us. So we are stay here.”
Incivility and carnival
A label that weighs on some of the traders on the left bank. “I strongly condemn all violence, but what happened next was terrible for our city, everything that was said in the press. Palavas has no more problems than other seaside resorts, but people like to press the negative”says Christine*.
An opinion that Betti, Palavasienne, does not fully share. “Things are better than before, thanks in particular to the police. But the incivility remains. The cigarette butts, the glass bottles on the beach, the indecent outfits in the stores… And the fear that it will degenerate into a fight. I think that the police don’t see everything.” For Patricia*, a shopkeeper at the port, the problem comes from the carnival. “As long as we don’t stop this fair, we will always have young people and scum in the evening. But the mayor does not listen to us, the fairgrounds are his friends.” And always, in a corner of the head, “the fear of August, always the worst”.
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