In Toulouse, the Covid-19 terraces sow discord between residents and cafe owners

“Look here, a row of tables glued to the facade of the building preventing blind people from finding their way around. And over there, this mother with a stroller forced to walk on the road”: in a wheelchair, the president of the Handi-Social association, Odile Maurin, fulminates.

“It’s not normal to be regularly forced to ask people to move their chairs so that we can pass,” says this activist for the rights of people with disabilities.

From the summer of 2020, like many other municipalities in France, the town hall of Toulouse has authorized catering professionals to extend the area of ​​their terraces, in order to compensate for the losses linked to successive confinements and curfews. This “exceptional provision”, from which more than 400 establishments in the capital of Occitania benefit today, has been extended until March 31.

Young women enjoy the sun while sipping a cappuccino on Place du Capitole, in the heart of the city. Around them, bicycles, waiters and an elderly couple try to make their way between the tables, which stretch out on both sides of the public thoroughfare.

“Pedestrian Abuse”

“We already have a thousand permanent terraces in Toulouse, some abusive: we must not add to an already complicated situation ad vitam aeternam extensions”, estimates Richard Mébaoudj, president of the association 60 million pedestrians 31.

In a dense city center, with narrow streets, this “inflation” of terraces is akin to “abuse of pedestrians, especially the most fragile”. “The exceptional laws related to Covid will for the most part end in April. There is therefore no reason to prolong, and even less to perpetuate, the privatization of public space”, launches Mr. Mébaoudj.

Same exasperation on the side of the association of residents Bien Vivre Toulouse Center (BVTC), which opposes “the transformation of the city center into a gigantic open-air terrace”, and points to the “unbearable” noise pollution.

Behind the Cardinal’s counter, Mathieu Marcatel says he understands the debate aroused by the future of “Covid terraces”. “But we have been heavily impacted for two years and I think it is right to support the profession by granting it certain advantages,” says the manager of this brewery.

Reflection “in progress”

On its terrace, the extension takes the form of a row of five small tables, i.e. ten additional seats. “This is not what will allow us to compensate for the shortfall due to the Covid. But everything is good to take, especially with the good weather coming, ”underlines this young 36-year-old boss, explaining that the return to teleworking at the start of the year weighed on his cash flow.

“In January, restaurateurs suffered a drop of 30 to 40% in their turnover”, specifies the president of the Union of trades and hotel industries of Haute-Garonne (Umih 31), Ivo Danaf.

According to him, “the Covid page, or at least its effects, is just beginning” for professionals in the sector who must repay state-guaranteed loans (PGE) and adapt to “changing consumer habits, henceforth focused more on take-away sales”.

He considers it necessary to maintain the terrace extensions “at least until the end of the year”. He even wants them to be made permanent “because they make it possible to increase turnover by 20 to 30%, depending on their size, in the summer season”. The reflection “is still in progress”, specifies the municipality.

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