by Madeleine McMullin
News from around the region, collated from local sources.
Extras wanted
Terence Films is looking for more than 600 extras for a TF1 police series “Les Innocents”. Part of the series will be filmed between Céret and Perpignan. They are looking for men and women of all styles and ages, as well as men between 25 and 55 with short hair (preferably sporty-looking) to play gendarmes, policemen, firemen; male and female adolescents between 16 & 18; boys and girls from 7 – 11 and young male babies, especially twins, who will be aged between 3 and 6 months in June.
There will be 1 – 6 days of filming between May and August, paid at €84.08 gross per day.
If you want to get involved turn up at the salles des Libertés in Perpignan between 10am & 5pm on Sat 8th April – you’ll need a social security number.
“Vultureland” – Targasonne overrun with dead horses
The mayor of Targasonne in Cerdagne doesn’t know what to do: a local “farmer”‘s horses are dying of hunger – 10 corpses have been found in a short space of time. According to the mayor, the owner has too many horses and cows. He doesn’t know how to care for them, hasn’t registered or tagged them properly and doesn’t seem to know how many he has or where they are. They even turn up on the ski slopes. They are dying of hunger and that is attracting so many vultures that they may have to rename the village to “Vautourland” (Vultureland). The mayor has contacted the gendarmes and is hoping that a solution will be found.
No case against municipal policeman suspected of murder
A policeman who had been suspected of killing a love rival who had shot him with his hunting rifle while he was out jogging between Bompas and Villelongue-de-la-Salanque last August, will no longer be charged after ballistic experts, an autopsy and DNA showed that the dead man probably shot himself. The policeman had always claimed his innocence saying that he was shot and then hit with the rifle butt and was unconscious when the man died.
Very high speed broadband coming by 2022
A project costing €155 million has been put in place to provide very high speed broadband for internet and mobile communications for the whole of the department by 2022. Some of this will be funded by the state (€28.6m), the region (€20m) and the EU (€5m), the rest by the department. 30 megabits/second is the minimum guaranteed speed and it will be run by the department, except in the urban community of Perpignan Méditerranée which will be covered by a private operator. There will be 176000 plugs and 300km of fibre optic: in places where it is impossible to install fibre optic the existing network will be improved. The department is making it a condition of awarding the contract that companies take part in the scheme to give jobs to the long term unemployed.
For sale for €1.8 million – the most expensive duplex in Perpignan
A 500m² apartment on 2 levels opposite Perpignan town hall has just been put on the market. It has one bedroom, a high-tech kitchen, living room, and custom-made bathroom on the lower level and upstairs are 4 mini-suites currently being used for B&B. The whole is arranged around a central courtyard and up for sale for €1.8 million with Sotheby’s.
Ex-Curator of the Castillet in court for misappropriation of Perpignan’s works of art
Jacques Deloncle, appeared in court to answer to misappropriation of works of art belonging to the municipality of Perpignan which came to light in December 2012 when he was the curator of the Castillet. Now aged 70 years, he was the “guardian” of the “Casa Pairal-Joseph Deloncle and also the president of the confraternity of the Sanch. He was accused of stealing various artworks from the reserves and selling them to local shops where a statue was discovered by an employee of the museum. The municipality made an official complaint and M. Deloncle was interviewed by the judicial police. He said that he had sold them but that they belonged to him. He was left at large while investigations were carried out. He is being tried for “destruction, misappropriation or theft of public goods by a person entrusted with a public position”.
