Even Monseigneur Lacombe, Archbishop of Auch, alluded to it during his vows. This shows that there was danger in the house! In the literal sense of the term, moreover, because the crux of the affair and the controversy which has just shaken the Gers, is, in fact, the sale, for 2 million euros, of the emblematic Castelmore castle, and its agricultural and forestry dependencies, commonly known as “castle of d’Artagnan”, located in Lupiac, a Gascon village of 300 inhabitants, between fields and valleys. Where the real d’Artagnan, Charles de Batz de Castelmore, was born, spent his childhood and adolescence, at the beginning of the 17th centurye century.
The purchase of the castle, with its very degraded building, partially listed in 1933, was the subject of an improbable duel, all the more symbolic because it pitted the private and the public. And it is the private offer, that of Yves Claude, CEO of Auchan Retail, who wishes to make it his personal residence while “by restoring its letters of nobility so that the public rediscovers it at its true value”which was dubbed by the Safer (land development and rural establishment company) of Gers, Friday January 19.
An offer preferred to that of the communities supported by the State, for whom the castle was the pivot of a territorial, economic and tourist development project, centered around the Gascon hero. Strong emotion on the ground, particularly within the Autour de d’Artagnan association, created under the authority of the prefect of Gers, bringing together all local actors aware of the economic and cultural potential of d’Artagnan. In 2022, the departmental council (PS) had already made a takeover proposal, in vain.
Bitterness
Until the recent thunderclap a year later when its owner mandated Safer 32 for the sale of the castle. With a serious candidate for takeover, Yves Claude. In an emergency, the communities are setting up a recovery project carried out by the community of communes of Artagnan en Fezensac, chaired by Barbara Neto (LR), with the support of the LIOT and Renaissance deputies, the Occitanie region and the departmental council ( PS). An unprecedented political consensus in the Gers. But the choice of the CEO of Auchan Retail by Safer 32 was approved on January 19 by government commissioners. Exit ” big project “. On site, the president of “comcom” expressed her bitterness while wishing “collectively write the rest of the adventure”.
For Laurent Carrié, prefect of Gers, “the State was mobilized and the public project included in the priorities of the State-region plan contract. But the award procedure having been deemed legally compliant, we must respect the decision and carry out a new dynamic project”. On the ground, actors continue to question “opacity” of the decision-making process regarding “two equivalent offers” : “One of the general interest missions of Safer is to ensure transparency of the land marketsummarizes the Autour de d’Artagnan association. However, there is no communication from them. On what criteria, with what parameters, was the choice of private sector made? The person of the buyer is not in question, we just want to understand. »