Immersed before the legislative elections: “I know that nothing will change, I just want the RN to pass”, the far right uninhibited in Valras

Jérémie Sauzé, patron pêcheur : “Le Pen père, peut-être que je n’aurais pas essayé”. Midi Libre – MICHAEL ESDOURRUBAILH

And you, what do you think of the political situation in the country ? For a week, Midi Libre goes to meet the inhabitants of Occitanie, far from the party apparatus and the words of experts& ;nbsp;: in Uzès, the postcard town where the RN has just conquered the duchy, with the breeders and farmers of the villages of the Montagne Noire where Gascon sheep and cows graze, alongside the inhabitants of the medium-sized town of Narbonne, the metropolises of Nîmes and Montpellier, with workers from the industrial belt of Rodez, in the old mining town of La Grand Combe. In Valras, where the extreme right won more than 60% of the European votes, fishermen and sea lovers have their say.

"Politics, since I quit the fish market, it’Marine"&amp ;nbsp;: on the seafront of Valras-Plage, these 1.8 km where locals and tourists meet, with a central heart of small buildings overlooking the sea after the protected beach of orderly hedges of ganivelles and restaurants on the ground floor, framed on one side by the port, up to the fishermen's stalls, on the other, a wilder and less residential area animated, Jean-François Liguori tells his story straightforwardly.

The cruise and fishing boat at sea, blocked by a mechanical problem, will soon follow the coast, Jean-François Liguori at the controls, and Philippe Dziedzic, in professional retraining in the sea professions, at his side. sides.

Philippe Dziedzic: “People go into politics to get their mandate, not to help people.” Midi Libre – MICHAEL ESDOURRUBAILH

On the political level, the local context can be summed up in one figure without nuance: the extreme right totaled 67.93% of the votes in the European elections if we add the scores of Jordan Bardella, Marion Maréchal and Florian Philippot, with good mobilization, five points above the national average.

Leaving France

In 2007, Jean-François Liguori voted for Sarkozy, before switching to the RN : "I vote "the’man& ;quot;, depending on how he speaks. Marine, she speaks well". And it echoes the context: "At 20, when I was a fisherman, I lived better than today. When I had a fish store, I saw that purchasing power was becoming lighter and lighter, people were living in the open. Since I handed over the business, I do a lot of replacements, towing, in the summer, there is always something to take". Not to "live the luxury life", but "to get by"< /em>.

It's more complicated for children: "They struggle, with minimum wage jobs, and if today, a couple does not have 4,000 euros per month to live on, it's complicated", notes the Héraultais. But like "politicians give money to anyone…"

He is resisting, for the moment, the temptation to settle in Spain. His teammate of the day, Philippe Dziedzic, 57 years old, who started "at the factory 9 hours a day" then became a civil servant, also plans to "leave France, to earn money, to change your life. He made his calculations to buy a catamaran, the demonstration is clear, more precise than his political thinking: "People don't make politics to help people or defend ideas, but to have a mandate. We witness more battles of ego than of ideas, and they stir up hatred to obtain votes.

No list will have its own: "I don't vote".

Jean-Claude, former CGT delegate: "I don’t believe in it anymore"

And perhaps not that of Jean-Claude (Editor's note: only the first names are given for people who have not communicated their name), 58 years old, &quot ;former CGT delegate", who helps out on the fishermen's quay : "For the first time in my life, I did not vote for the Europeans. I don't believe in it anymore. If he decides, "it won't be for the extremes".

Jérémy Pace, fishing boss, remains undecided. Midi Libre – MICHAEL ESDOURRUBAILH

Jérémy Pace, the fishing boss, remains discreet about his intentions. He prefers to talk about the profession, and the money gone into the margins: "We sell the sole between 30 and 32 euros, I’ I saw yesterday on a stall for 56 euros". Professionals are facing the "increase in diesel", "in the price of fillets"…  

"Le Pen father, I might not have taken the step", confides the colleague Jérémie Sauzé, 47 years old, including "thirty-two by profession", one " passion". "I'm not that interested in politics, but I've always voted. I think we need a shift to the right. The RN, we haven’t tried. Yes, of course, it’s my choice, I don’t hide it. I don't care about promises, and I know that on July 7, nothing will change. I just want them to come by, to see", explains the quadra, who is spontaneously surprised by the attitude & quot;from a guy like Kylian" (Editor's note: Mbappé): "I would have preferred that he just say d&# 39;go vote. He'd better concentrate on the ball.

At training time, the traditional rowing club "Lous Ramaires", an institution in the city, prefers to dodge the subject: "We're moving as far away from politics as possible".

At the traditional rowing club “Lous ramaires”: “We move away from politics as much as possible”. Midi Libre – MICHAEL ESDOURRUBAILH

A Valrasian invested in local life speaks frankly about it on condition of remaining anonymous. "more than 70 years ago" qu’il"comes here". "I'm still asked if I'm a Gabian, and for that you have to be born and have gone to primary school in Valras. It’s a world of its own, the city protects itself. With this situation, people make amalgams, it creates tensions and it gives a strong result for the extremes, assumed in an uninhibited way", he analyzes, quoting pell-mell& ;nbsp;"the explosion of tourism in summer", the population goes from 4,000 to 45 000 inhabitants, the discomfort faced with the "Biterrois who get off at the station and make no effort", and even the< em> "parking lot which has just been paid".

"People have the impression that everything is changing and that they’re out of control". And this city "retirees and people who are put in difficulty by the crisis think they have been left behind, this is not the first time, Valras was not in the Racine development mission of the coast", he recalls, anxious not to "have problems with my neighbors".

At the “Le Central” campsite, “violence” and “lack of respect for others” worry retirees. Midi Libre – MICHAEL ESDOURRUBAILH

“We are so disappointed with everything”: at the campsite, Le Central, tourists fully in phase

"Many regulars", often local tourists, immersed in the life of the city : Freddy Corbière, the welcoming manager of the Central, "the only campsite in the town", opens the door to meet the customers already present despite the timid start to summer. On Avenue Charles Cauquil, the shopping artery of Valras-Plage, you could almost miss the entrance to the site, near the Le bleu marine condominium.

The political context does not spare vacationers. "I was going to RN, I tell you frankly" , announces Véronique, guest in Marie-Josée’s bungalow. The neighbors live in Mondavezan, in Haute-Garonne, a town very close to Martres-Tolosane, the village of the president of the Region Carole Delga. "Lately it's been a "catastrophe",  I just lost 200 euros, the equivalent of the amount of my rent". At 62, Véronique struggles to make ends meet with income provided mainly by a disabled adult allowance, increased after the Yellow Vest conflict, but progress has proven to be penalizing with its side effects.

"Everything has become a luxury, a kilo of peaches at 4 euros, it's not possible, cherries at 12 euros, it&# 39;is not possible", continues Marie-Josée, retired, who missed "for the first time an election in the last European elections& ;quot;, and will also be absent in the first round of the legislative elections, no regrets: "We are so disappointed with everything".< /p>

"I am in favor of social if it is targeted"

"My main concern is the rise in violence", announces Annick who is arriving from Côte-d'Or.  "Violence and non-respect for everything. People no longer know how to be respected and nothing is respectable", adds Frédérique, from Loir-et-Cher. She also says "favorable to the social sector if it is targeted, for the accidents of life". 

But in politics, "chow can we position ourselves ? We don't know who represents whom". Annick doesn't believe in politics anymore, and what she sees today "disgusted". With her husband, she had nevertheless "hoped for Macron", " we thought it was a young…"

"I don't even know yet who I'm going to vote for", assures Annie, from the Ardennes, frightened by the ;#39;daily news: "It's not happy. Every day there are stabbings, thefts… There are too many immigrants, we no longer dare to react too much, people no longer respect anything. Politics, I do my duty but I never believed in it. Many say that change is needed, will it be better or worse…" Huguette, coming from the Toulouse suburbs, remembers the time when "it'was the countryside". From now on, she "'no longer goes out in the evening. She will also do her duty, with an idea in mind: "On has never tried it, the change".

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