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ELECTION

Here’s what’s happening in the French election campaigns

Eight days before the start of voting in France's presidential election, far-right candidate Le Pen tore into her top rival, centrist Emmanuel Macron while conservative Francois Fillon worked the Catholic vote.

Published: 16 April 2017 07:38 CEST
Here's what's happening in the French election campaigns
Campaign posters for the candidates. Photo: Jean-Pierre Clatot/AFP

Here's what happened in the campaign on Saturday:

Macron soft on Islamists: Le Pen

At a rally in the southern city of Perpignan, Le Pen said Macron, a champion of diversity, would hasten France's “multicultural drift” and allow Muslims to close themselves off from the rest of society.

“With Mr Macron, it would be Islamism on the move,” Le Pen said, in a play on the name of his En Marche (On the Move) party.


Photo: AFP

She was referring to a controversy involving a Macron campaigner in a tough Paris suburb, who criticised the Charlie Hebdo newspaper targeted by jihadists in 2015 for publishing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

Le Pen also let fly at Republicans candidate Fillon accusing him of failing to stem the rise of ultra-conservative Islam in some neighbourhoods when he was prime minister between 2007 and 2012.

“Today we are paying the price of his total inaction”, she accused.

Pilgrim's progress

Scandal-hit Fillon used the last weekend of campaigning before the April 23rd first round to mobilise Catholic voters at Easter.


Photo: AFP

In a speech in the central town of Puy-en-Velay, famous for its cathedral, he stressed the importance of patriotism – borrowing from the songbook of Le Pen who styles her National Front the “party of patriots”.

“We no longer dare today say the words 'France', 'identity', 'nation', 'homeland', 'roots' or 'culture'. We're asked to be discreet. Well, no, let us together speak out…. Patriotism is not a dirty word,” he said.

Hamon battles on

The struggling Socialist candidate, Benoit Hamon, who has haemorrhaged supporters to Communist-backed firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon and Macron told Liberation daily he was still in the campaign to win.

“Let this much be clear, I'm in the campaign to the end to win over voters and avoid them being tempted to choose a 'good candidate' rather than a good president,” he said.

Large numbers of voters on the left are considering voting for the candidate they believe is best placed to beat Le Pen rather than their preferred candidate.

Macron is expected to be the main beneficiary of tactical voting on both the left and right.

POLITICS

8 things you never knew about Andorra

The tiny statelet nestled in the Pyrenees mountains that mark the border between France and Spain hit the headlines with its new language requirement for residency permits – but what else is there to know about Andorra?

Published: 26 April 2024 15:11 CEST
8 things you never knew about Andorra

This week, Andorra passed a law setting a minimum Catalan language requirement for foreign residents. 

It’s not often the tiny, independent principality in the mountains makes the news – other than, perhaps, when its national football team loses (again) to a rather larger rival in international qualifying competitions.

The national side are due to play Spain in early June, as part of the larger nation’s warm-up for the Euro 2024 tournament in Germany. Here, then, in case you’re watching that match, at Estadio Nuevo Vivero, are a few facts about Andorra that you can astound your fellow football fans with…

Size matters

Small though it is – it has an area of just 468 square kilometres, a little more than half the size of the greater Paris area – there are five smaller states in Europe, 15 smaller countries in the world by area, and 10 smaller by population.

People

Its population in 2023 was 81,588. That’s fewer people than the city of Pau, in southwest France (which is itself the 65th largest town in France, by population).

High-living

The principality’s capital, Andorra la Vella (population c20,000 – about the same population as Dax) is the highest capital city in Europe, at an elevation of 1,023 metres above sea level. 

Spoken words

The official language – and the one you’ll need for a residency permit – is Catalan. But visitors will find Spanish, Portuguese and French are also commonly spoken, and a fair few people will speak some English, too.

Sport

We’ve already mentioned the football. But Andorra’s main claim to sporting fame is as a renowned winter sports venue. With about 350km of ski runs, across 3,100 hectares of mountainous terrain, it boasts the largest ski area in the Pyrenees.

Economic model

Tourism, the mainstay of the economy, accounts for roughly 80 percent of Andorra’s GDP. More than 10 million tourists visit every year.

It also has no sales tax on most items – which is why you’ll often find a queue at the French border as locals pop into the principality to buy things like alcohol, cigarettes and (bizarrely) washing powder, which are significantly cheaper.

Head of state

Andorra has two heads of state, because history. It’s believed the principality was created by Charlemagne (c748 – 814CE), and was ruled by the count of Urgell up to 988CE, when it was handed over to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Urgell. The principality, as we know it today, was formed by a treaty between the bishop of Urgell and the count of Foix in 1278.

Today, the state is jointly ruled by two co-princes: the bishop of Urgell in Catalonia, Spain and … the president of France, who (despite the French aversion to monarchy and nobility) has the title Prince of Andorra, following the transfer of the count of Foix’s claims to the Crown of France and, subsequently, to the head of state of the French Republic. 

Military, of sorts

Andorra does have a small, mostly ceremonial army. But all able-bodied Andorran men aged between 21 and 60 are obliged to respond to emergency situations, including natural disasters.

Legally, a rifle should be kept and maintained in every Andorran household – though the same law also states that the police will supply a firearm if one is required.

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