AND HERE IS THE NEWS…
….a light look at the latest local news with Caroline Manson
Protestors bring chaos to Perpignan
A planned day of protests on Saturday turned into violence and robbery throughout France. Although not hit as badly as towns such as Limoges where the historic Town Hall was burnt down, Perpignan also suffered badly from the out of control crowd, who appeared to have been joined and out-numbered by ’Casseurs’ (groups of people who have nothing to do with the protest but just turn up to cause damage). Groups ransacked several businesses and set fire to cars, rubbish bins and anything else they could get their hands on. Clashes between the police and the over 100 individuals continued until late in the evening. At least 27 people were arrested.
Drug lord arrested in Laroque-des-Albères
One of the most important arrests of the year was made by gendarmes of the P-O last week when they arrested the former biggest drug dealer of Toulouse. They were alerted at around 3am on the morning of Wednesday 14th when a quad bike was seen driving around Laroque-des-Albères. The driver tried to flee as soon as he spotted the police but was quickly apprehended and more than 200kg of cannabis resin was found on the bike. They were even more surprised when they discovered that they had arrested Hamza Abbou, nicknamed “Le Botch” (the madman), the biggest drug dealer in Toulouse who had been arrested and released twice since 2017 and had just been released from jail in March 2026. The likelihood is that by way of avoiding the A9 and the hotly monitored Le Boulou Péage he was hoping to cross the border by way of the Albères Massif on his off-road vehicle.
Landslide causes coastal path to be closed
The popular coastal walk between Bernardi and Paulilles beaches has had to be closed after a landslide occurred on Friday. It will remain closed until further notice and an alternative route has been put in place for the walkers. In January another part of the trail also suffered an impressive collapse, not far from Le Racou beach and the section leading around the Porteils coves has been closed to the public ever since – although not everybody has heeded the warnings and some walkers continue to use this perilous route.
Air France HOP planes back in Perpignan?
In 2022 Air France decided to cancel its’ Perpignan/Paris flights and since then it has been the subsidiary company, Transavia, operating the route. So it was quite a surprise to see the Air France HOP plane land on the Perpignan-Rivesaltes runway last Friday. Sadly this was just due to very foggy conditions affecting the Gard and Hérault that day so at the last moment the flight was diverted from Montpellier to Perpignan, from where the passengers were then transferred by bus to Montpellier.
Illegal swimming pool destroyed by mini-digger
OK I admit it, the headline is a bit mis-leading as the pool in question was actually in a river. Two years ago somebody built a dam across the river Vanéra which passes through the village of Osséja up in the Cerdagne. This dam created a large pool which was ideal for swimming in during the summer months. The Town Hall ruled that it was actually detrimental to the environment, disrupting the ecosystem and the trout habitat, so they gave the order for a mini-digger to be dispatched to dismantle the dam. Nobody has owned up to building the dam in the first place, perhaps because the law states that voluntarily hindering the free flow of water is punishable by a fine of up to 1500 euros.
Summer is officially over
After an amazing week of abnormally warm temperatures (for October) the temperatures dropped over the weekend and we have now lost 15°. On October 14th nearly 30° was recorded in Perpignan and even up in the mountains it was well over 21°. This cooler weather will also bring plenty of rainy days, and very shortly we will see the first snow on the peaks of the Canigou.
Six arrests in Canohès
The pretty town of Canohès is not normally known as a hot-bed of crime but Friday afternoon proved otherwise for the municipal police. Around 1pm they were alerted by a resident whose home had just been burgled. Very quickly the police identified two suspects on a nearby street and managed to arrest them – but not before having objects thrown at them. A little later in the afternoon police were called when a Sankeo bus was attacked, having objects thrown at it and also windows being broken. 4 people were very quickly arrested and handed over to the Le Soler gendarmes. All 6 of the criminals were minors.