The response of street sellers banned from the beach by the town hall of Palavas-les-Flots

Les vendeurs ambulants n'ont plus droit de cité à Palavas-les-Flots. Midi Libre – Jean-Marc Lallemand

On July 11, the mayor of Palavas-les-Flots, Christian Jeanjean, banned all sales of food products on the resort's seven kilometers of beach, accusing street vendors of not respecting regulations or health standards. . Contesting these remarks, four of the five companies concerned decided to initiate proceedings before the administrative court. The mayor says he is ready to engage in dialogue with them again.

Would Palavas-les-Flots be transformed into a filming scene for the remake of “Game over at the O.K. Corral” around the street vendors selling food products on the town's beach ? If no gunshots were fired, as in this western, tensions between the town hall and street vendors rose as quickly as the current temperatures. A look back at the discord.

Because nothing is more reliable than regulations, going back in time. On June 3, the town hall launched a call for applications for the sale of doughnuts on its public property, with two authorizations planned for the beaches on the right bank and one on those on the left bank. Of the 20 applications submitted, 15 were selected by the municipal commission for public markets, then drawn at random on June 24, at the Town Hall, in accordance with local regulations. Of the three authorizations announced in the call for applications, the mayor finally grants five.

Open war on the right bank

On July 2, a municipal decree authorizing the sale of “products by the basket” on the seafront was published. Of the five companies selected, four specified in their application that they would sell doughnuts, chouchous, but also ice creams and drinks, with photos of the authorized equipment (trolley) and hygiene practices. Although the call for applications stated that street vending only concerned the sale of doughnuts, they are not ruled out. Response from the mayor, Christian Jeanjean: “Why refuse them a permit if the products are sold under good conditions. We can't know in advance.“

Starting on July 7, the fifteen vendors (three per company) began to walk the beach to sell their products, but the first tensions were emerging. The beachfront businesses on the right bank, paying their doorstep, did not appreciate the potential competition from ice creams and drinks sold on public property. "The merchants told my vendors to clear off, and the municipal police did the same. We managed to work a little, but the situation deteriorated very quickly“, says Tristan Auffrey, manager of SARL Sosogood.

"Consumer health safety cannot be guaranteed"

Advice is given to street vendors on the right bank to move away from beachside businesses to calm things down. But considering that "storage temperatures cannot be ensured until distribution of the product, the health safety of consumers cannot be guaranteed", the mayor of Palavas- les-Flots, Christian Jeanjean, issues a new decree imposing that only the sale of donuts will be authorized.

The next day, the company managers are summoned to the town hall to be presented with a fait accompli.  "We never had a health check on the beach. Where can the mayor get that there is a risk of poisoning people, asks Hervé Denison annoyedly. Some, however, decide to comply. A free appeal was filed, but the town hall ignored it. The lull is short-lived.