AND HERE IS THE NEWS…

….a light look at the latest local news with Caroline Manson

Yet more businesses close in Perpignan

Anybody visiting Perpignan recently cannot fail to notice the number of boarded up or closed businesses in the town centre.  In total there are at least 13 shops, including some which have been in situ for years, which have had to close their doors having found the cost of trading unsustainable.  In recent weeks three emblematic cafes of the city have also ceased trading, namely the Café de La Paid in Place Arago, Le Grand Café de La Poste by the Castilet and Le Petit Moka in Place République.  Louis Aliot, the Mayor of Perpignan has vowed to try to help local commerces as much as possible but so far his promises all seem to revolve around Christmas – free car parking, the Christmas Market and the installation of a giant Creche.  Shopkeepers feel that the 119,000€ cost of this could have been better invested.

Dried mushrooms recalled from shop shelves

A 27 year old woman from Montpellier died from a rare form of food poisoning this week, having eaten dried morel mushrooms.  The mushrooms are sold in 60g jars under the Champibon brand and were on sale in B&M stores – of which we have two in the region, one in Perpignan and one at Rivesaltes.  The alert concerns pots sold at B&M throughout France between October 12 and November 3. Perhaps even more concerning is that there is also a recall notice on the much larger 400g pots which were sold through the wholesaler Promocash which can be found in the Saint-Charles area.  These pots are most likely destined for restaurants….

Why is there a black armband on the Claira village signs?

The Mayor of Claira has authorised the addition of black armband on all the Claira signs at the entrances to the village.  The reason is to show his fury at the proposed fiscal budget which he says will cause the ‘death’ of small villages.  In the budget the government have demanded a ‘solidarity’ fund from each village, being a percentage of their operating revenues.  This fund is to help other villages who end up operating at a loss.  The Mayor calls this ‘robbery’ and gives the example of one neighbour who has insulated his house and uses energy efficient heating living next door to someone who has done nothing and heats his house while leaving all the windows open – and the efficient neighbour has to compensate the other.  In Claira alone the cost of this fund will be around 150,000 euros per annum, which the Mayor says means that schools, roads, associations, local services etc in the villages will suffer.

Boss of Littoral FM radio accused of rape and sexual assault.

Several complaints have been filed against Christian A, the founder and director of Littoral FM Radio based in Perpignan.  He was taken into custody and indicted for rape and sexual assault against a total of three people, said to be young adult men, who were trainees at the radio station.  Some of the acts took place at the station and 10 other alleged victims are said to have suffered abuse at the suspect’s home in Canet-en-Roussillon and also in Morocco during a trip.  The man has been released pending trial, but has to stay away from the department and avoid any activity involving contact with minors.

Alcohol seized on Andorra/France border

Following a demand from the Prefecture, customs and gendarmes have recently strengthened their presence around the Andorra frontier in a bid to deter smugglers. During this operation border guards spotted a French registered Peugeot which seemed unusually heavily laden.  They attempted to stop the driver to check the contents but the driver preferred to flee.  The car was soon found just a few kilometres away in the Ariège, having crashed into a barrier.  There was no sign of the driver but an investigation of the car proved that the officers had been right to be suspicious as they found a ‘crazy’ amount of alcohol.  In total 617 litres of vodka, whiskey and rum were discovered with an estimated market value of 12,380€, which should have cost nearly 8,000€ in customs duties.

And finally …..

Customers at Burger King at the Porte d’Espagne were very surprised to have their meal interrupted when a dinosaur ran inside, chased by four prehistoric cavemen waving clubs.  An epic fight took place and the dinosaur was defeated.  If you haven’t already guessed, this was a stunt featuring a man in an inflatable dinosaur costume and the clubs were plastic.  The instigator of this stunt is a man called Gianni Giacalone who is a Catalan ‘influencer’ with 4 million subscribers on TikTok.  In an interview he stated that he is fed up with seeing all the gloomy and pessimistic videos on social media and tries to create more entertaining content.  Yet another reason to avoid Burger King?