An important security device of more than 1,500 people, with attention to the phenomenon of bites, will be deployed for the Bayonne festivals.
An important security device of more than 1,500 people, with attention to the phenomenon of bites, will be deployed for the Bayonne celebrations, one of the largest popular gatherings in Europe, canceled for the past two years due to Covid-19 . The holidays (July 27-31) “celebrate their 90th anniversary in an anxiety-provoking context”, Bayonne mayor Jean-René Etchegaray said on Tuesday during a press conference on holiday security, referring to the phenomenon of wild bites. A system for taking care of possible victims has been developed in the event of a “puncture observed” and “serious symptoms” verified within the perimeter of the party by the nursing staff deployed on an advanced medical post, specified the prosecutor of the Republic of Bayonne, Jérôme Bourrier.
“There is a real psychosis that leads everyone to talk nonsense on social networks. This fear is irrational and is not, here, corroborated by concrete factual elements”, he said. added, evoking an unexplained wave of bites that has affected young people in nightclubs since the beginning of April. On the jurisdiction of the Bayonne judicial court, around thirty complaints are currently being investigated, “but we have no proven intoxication and above all no related phenomenon of rape”, insisted the prosecutor again. The security system, reinforced in Bayonne since the attack of July 14 in Nice in 2016, represents a third of the budget for the organization of the celebrations, or 1.3 million euros, specified the mayor.
This year, and for the first time, “the State will charge part of the cost of security to the City”, as indicated by the sub-prefect of Bayonne, Philippe Le Moing-Surzur. “The security devices which are not decided by the State but which are necessary must be paid for”, he specified, recalling an “old national rule”, which has not been applied so far. 1,200 people including national and municipal police, gendarmerie, three CRS companies and 600 private security agents, will be requisitioned. About 300 rescuers and firefighters will complete the teams. “The device is roughly similar to that of 2019”, date of the last edition, according to the sub-prefect. The Bayonne Festival attracts up to a million “festayres” (“partygoers” in Gascon) each summer dressed in red and white in the crowded streets of the city, between cultural and sporting events, concerts, bullfights and gastronomic competitions.