Robert Ménard: “The Béziers Feria will remain free, that's for sure”

Robert Ménard : “J'aimerais que l'on garde un état d'esprit positif”. Midi Libre – Dorian Cayuela

On the eve of the start of the Feria de Béziers 2024, Mayor Robert Ménard hopes for a "positive" in the spirit of the Olympic Games. Safety, poster, projects… He answers our questions.

What state of mind are you in a few hours before the start of this Feria?< /p>

Positive. I am coming out, like all the French, from 15 days of Olympic Games, where I told myself that we were fed up with the grumpy people, the killjoys, the killjoys who always announce that everything is going to go badly… All these people were wrong, we were wonderfully together, we gave a wonderful image of France, we showed another side of France. I had a great time at the opening ceremony, I don't want to choose between Puy du Fou and the opening ceremony, I like both […] I would like us to keep this state of mind for 5 days, to want to see each other, to talk to each other. We can disagree without tearing each other's eyes out. I want us to meet again. We have every reason to be proud to be from Béziers and French.

What would a successful Feria be like, next Monday, when we take stock ?

First of all, there were just over a million of us in 2023, I hope we'll be in that range. Even though we've seen that during this tourist season, there were slightly fewer people. The second criterion is safety, there haven't been any problems for years. We've increased the number of alcohol tests while driving: and there are fewer offenders at the exit of the Feria than normal. Then, I'm very keen for it to be a family Feria and for everyone to get something out of it, we've increased the number of activities during the day like the waiter race, the flip-flop throwing, etc. The Feria doesn't start at 6pm with the bullfight, it's all day long. Well, obviously, I'll be at the four bullfights and I hope they'll be great. And there again, the anti-bullfighting crowd has the right not to like bullfighting, but just let them leave people alone. And let's salute the courage of those who risk their lives. It is an ode to courage, the bullfight.

On the security aspect, is the system unchanged compared to previous editions ?

We almost didn't have any CRS. So thank you to the prefect and the sub-prefect, I know they fought so that we had this company. That's also why we moved the dates that were chosen based on the Olympics. Despite this change, we didn't know if it would work until the last moment. And ten days ago, the prefect called to say that it was sorted. A CRS company will therefore be present (60 men), the Sentinelles, 100 Altea agents (a private company, editor's note), 200 municipal and national police officers inside the perimeter and gendarmes around for alcohol checks. There are therefore as many men in uniform as last year. Security is the fight against everything that revolves around alcohol. In the perimeter: you cannot enter with alcohol, the bottles are broken at the entrance. And we have no problem. At the slightest start of a fight, people intervene immediately. Closing is at 3 o'clock. And from 2 o'clock onwards, alcohol is no longer sold. (Every evening, except Sunday when the party ends an hour earlier). And if we had not had sufficient security forces, the consequence was a Feria that closed earlier. So this is good news in terms of security and for the people who live off the Feria.

What is your favorite moment during the Feria??

I'm not going to say mass so as not to be a caricature of myself. I love the last day with the peñas and bandas in the arenas; the village of the 3rd half, I'm going to applaud Ricoune, I love him. And I like the giant paquito on the Allées and the one for the children, it touches me. Honestly, I'm enjoying it, I don't see it as an obligation, I can't wait to be there. Part of my time will also be spent with the municipal employees responsible for cleaning up the city at 3 o'clock in the morning. It's part of my job: I'll go around the security forces, I'll go to the hospital, see the firefighters and everyone who makes it go well. A million people in Béziers in five days, that's not nothing, it's a tour de force.

We're in a good frame of mind and I dream of continuing in our own way what happened for 15 days, of keeping the same pleasure. On the bullfight, I repeat, you either like it or you don't. But we're not going to argue about that.

With a little hindsight, some regrets regarding the withdrawal of the Feria poster which represented a drawing by Jean Moulin ?

I understood that the anti-bullfighting people were ready to do whatever it took to serve their ideas. In Béziers, bullfighting is extremely popular, but in the rest of France, this is not always the case. And so I did not want to persist. It was withdrawn to calm things down. Jean Moulin's family didn't ask me, I called them, I think they were relieved given the pressure they were under.

What direction will the Béziers Feria take in the future ?

The Feria is unimaginable without bullfights. Even if it only represents 5% of the people who attend the Feria. It remains the DNA. And I say it easily because I am not crazy about bullfighting, I do not advocate for my own tastes. Then, the Feria must respond to the entire population, we try year after year, to open it to all ages. I am attached to it, it is a beautiful tradition and traditions are not necessarily old-fashioned, it is what inscribes you in a history. Our Feria is not the same as that of Bayonne. There are specificities. The Feria, for example, will remain free, that's for sure, unlike Bayonne (since 2018, 15 euros for non-Bayonnais, Editor's note). And even if it costs the City money, more than a million euros. It's a choice.

As for the project to set up an encierro (a release of bulls in the streets)…

We need more police forces. With the Olympics, it was impossible this year. It will be on the agenda for 2025. If we can do it, if we are able to ensure security.

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