AND HERE IS THE NEWS…

….a quick glance at the latest local news with Caroline Manson

Man dies after threatening police with gun

Las Illas is normally a very peaceful little hamlet near the Franco-Spanish border, but on Wednesday April 29 a 65 year old man was shot and killed by a Gendarme.  The Perpignan Public Prosecutor has explained the details: At around 2am a fight broke out between a 65 year old man and one of his neighbours.  The 65 year old was very drunk and very agitated and had been waving a firearm around and threatening to kill his neighbour.  He then locked himself, the gun, his wife and children in his house.  The neighbour’s wife called the Gendarmes as she was extremely concerned about the safety of the family locked in the house with this drunk man in charge of a firearm.  At around 6.30 they entered the property and discovered the man lying on his bed with a rifle positioned between him and his partner.  Upon seeing the Gendarmes he grabbed the rifle, at which point the Gendarme had no option but to shoot him in the chest and he died of his injuries soon afterwards.  An investigation is underway but it appears to be the tragic result of a long running dispute between the two neighbours.

Attention all shipping

Several extremely large ships/boats/yachts (I have very little nautical knowledge) have visited or passed the coast of the P-O coastline over the past few days.  Port Vendres welcomed the Wind Spirit, a four-masted sailboat 134 metres long, and this week his little brother Wind Surf (owned by Windstar Cruise Lines) makes his second visit to the port.  At 187 meters it is the largest cruise sailboat in the world, on a par with Club Med 2 (owned by Club Med) which also just happened to be visiting Collioure before continuing on its Mediterranean Cruise.  On Tuesday morning the super yacht Les Cinq appeared on the Cote Vermeille.  It is 75 metres long with 6 comfortable cabins, wellness centre, glass-bottomed swimming pool on the main deck etc.  It was sold in May 2025 and the price requested was 172,500,000 euros – but don’t worry if this is out of reach as you can rent it for just 825,000 euros per week.

UFO seen over Perpignan?

At around 10pm on Friday night a strange luminous phenomenon was seen by many residents of Perpignan and the Pyrénées-Oriéntales.  Social networks burst into life with people from all over France questioning what they had seen.  It was quite low in the sky and consisted of a blurry ball of light followed by a moving light trail.  In fact there was a very logical explanation – it was the Starlink 10-38 mission which had taken off two hours earlier from Cape Canaveral.  We are accustomed to seeing the site of this trail of internet satellites but on this occasion it was led by a Falcon-9 rocket which was ‘degassing’ the satellites just before they were set on their path.  No need to put on your tin-foil helmets just yet.

Hospital Strikes continue

The strike action at the Elsan clinics of Cabestany and Perpignan continues into a second week with negotiations at a standstill for now.  Despite the fact the hospitals have put their emergency system into place people have been seen queuing outside the A & E department (which also delays the rescue services who have to wait with their patients) and many operations and treatments have been postponed at the last minute.  Management are seeking solutions in collaboration with other institutions such as the Grand Narbonne Private Hospital in order to secure the preparation of treatments and hope for a gradual resumption of sessions within the next few days.

Major police operation against drug trafficking in Perpignan

As part of the fight against drug trafficking police carried out a coordinated operation in several areas of Perpignan.  Starting in the Saint-Mathieu district they questioned 17 people and managed to arrest a well-known individual who was the subject of two arrest warrants.  A couple of days later 140 officers patrolled the Champ de Mars, a neighbourhood known to generate several tens of thousands of euros per day for drug dealers.  Although no arrests were made the police are satisfied that their presence has weakened the citiy’s most well-known deal points.

Chaotic day on the roads

Thursday April 30th was a very busy day for the police and rescue services with a number of road traffic accidents to deal with.  Several accidents occurred on the A9 motorway between Le Boulou and Spain causing delays for those hoping to escape for the holiday weekend.  On the D900 between Perpignan and Le Boulou a head on crash between two cars resulted in 7 people being injured and needing assistance.  21 firefighters and the SAMU were mobilised on this major intervention and the road was closed at the height of the Banyuls-dels-Aspres roundabout.  A 45 year old man was helicoptered to the hospital in a serious condition and two others were taken by ambulance.

Gas bottles explode during fire on outskirts of Thuir

Domaine de Montcalm just north of Thuir had already made the news reports at the beginning of April when bulldozers were called in to remove illegal dwellings on this agricultural site.  This operation does not appear to have been entirely successful as last Friday fire broke out destroying around 8000m2 of vegetation, and 4 illegal habitations described as ‘summer kitchens’, containing gas bottles which exploded in the flames.  More than 30 firefighters were engaged to put out the fire, the cause of which is not yet known.  This site is/was one of the most ‘cabanised’ (ie having illegal shed buildings).

And finally….

Serrat d’En Vaquer is the name of the hill that you see when you arrive at the Auchan Shopping Centre, and the land is owned by Ceetrus, the company that owns the shopping centre.  Since 2024 the company have been focussing on improving the safety, accessibility and aesthetics of the paths around Serrat d’en Vaquer and are now ready to finish their project with the creation of a sports area, a climbing structure, an ‘explorers course’ and also the installation of a zip-line.  The opening is planned for 31st May.  Serrat d’en Vaquer was previously more…. well…. for less salubrious leisure pursuits – if you know, you know….