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Health passport protesters back on the streets of Paris this weekend

Two anti-health passport marches and a rally are planned for the streets of Paris on Saturday.

Published: 23 July 2021 17:24 CEST
Health passport protesters back on the streets of Paris this weekend
An anti-health pass march in central Paris on July 14th, 2021. Photo: Geoffroy van der Hasselt / AFP

Two protests – both expected to be small by French standards – are planned for the capital this weekend after 18,000 people turned out last weekend to protest over plans for the expanded health passport scheme.

READ ALSO When, where and why do you need a heath passport in France?

A first march, organised by the ‘yellow vest’ leader Stéphane Espic, will start at 11am at place André-Malraux, and end at the Esplanade des Invalides.

A second protest, orchestrated by the wider ‘yellow vests’ movement and expected to attract more people, will start from Place de la Bastille at 12 noon. The procession will set off in the direction of the Porte de Champerret.

Image: Google Maps

Both marches will be followed by a rally at Trocadéro at 2.30pm, which has been called by Les Patriotes’s leader and founder Florian Philippot – who has described the event as being  “for freedom, against tyranny”.

There are currently no Metro closures listed, but stations in the vicinity of the marches could close in the afternoon.

Protests have also been called in Lyon, Nancy, Orléans, Metz, Chartres, Toulon and Gap.

Last weekend, some 114,000 protesters took to the streets in towns and cities across France to voice their anger at the government’s plans, which are being debated in Parliament this week.

But, following President Emmanuel Macron’s TV address on July 12th, nearly six million people have booked vaccine appointments. More than 300,000 appointments have been made every day over the past week.

ALSO READ: Protests in France over health passport – but 3 million vaccine appointments booked since Macron’s announcement

Member comments

  1. thelocal.fr is always faithful to the globalist, corporatist, State-approved Narrative and is thus not very useful at all for getting real news about France.

    The French people are rising up in furious anger over the dystopian government’s plans. You’d never know that reading this website

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PARIS

Fluffy nuisance: Outcry as Paris sends Invalides rabbits into exile

Efforts to relocate wild rabbits that are a common sight on the lawns of the historic Invalides memorial complex have provoked criticism from animal rights groups.

Published: 14 February 2024 13:01 CET
Fluffy nuisance: Outcry as Paris sends Invalides rabbits into exile

Tourists and Parisians have long been accustomed to the sight of wild rabbits frolicking around the lawns of Les Invalides, one of the French capital’s great landmarks.

But efforts are underway to relocate the fluffy animals, accused of damaging the gardens and drains around the giant edifice that houses Napoleon’s tomb, authorities said.

Police said that several dozen bunnies had been captured since late January and relocated to the private estate of Breau in the Seine-et-Marne region outside Paris, a move that has prompted an outcry from animal rights activists.

“Two operations have taken place since 25 January,” the police prefecture told AFP.

“Twenty-four healthy rabbits were captured on each occasion and released after vaccination” in Seine-et-Marne, the prefecture said.

Six more operations are scheduled to take place in the coming weeks.

Around 300 wild rabbits live around Les Invalides, according to estimates.

“The overpopulation on the site is leading to deteriorating living conditions and health risks,” the prefecture said.

Authorities estimate the cost of restoring the site, which has been damaged by the proliferation of underground galleries and the deterioration of gardens, pipes and flora, at €366,000.

Animal rights groups denounced the operation.

The Paris Animaux Zoopolis group said the rabbits were being subjected to “intense stress” or could be killed “under the guise of relocation”.

“A number of rabbits will die during capture and potentially during transport,” said the group, accusing authorities of being “opaque” about their methods.

The animal rights group also noted that Breau was home to the headquarters of the Seine-et-Marne hunting federation.

The police prefecture insisted that the animals would not be hunted.

In 2021, authorities classified the rabbits living in Paris as a nuisance but the order was reversed following an outcry from animal groups who have been pushing for a peaceful cohabitation with the animals.

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