AND HERE IS THE NEWS…

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

Christmas Village in Le Barcares over-booked

Traffic was at a standstill and thousands of visitors were unable to enter as the Christmas Village appears to be a victim of its own success. This weekend in particular many Catalans from the south are staying in the Pyrénées-Oriéntales and the Christmas Village is a traditional stopover for them.  On Friday evening people who had managed to park and were queuing for their pre-booked entry at 6pm ended up being turned away as the village was saturated with visitors.  Some lucky people who had managed to get in were unable to move forward from the entrance area and discover the rest of the attractions as the crowds were not moving. Many people have complained about the safety issues but the organisers are reported as saying ‘the doors are open, no problem has been reported’. 

Car workshop destroyed by fire

The MN66 car bodyshop in Perpignan was completely destroyed by a fire which broke out in the early hours of Sunday morning. Residents heard an explosion at 1.30am and it is believed that a bottle of acetylene exploded.  The fire quickly took hold as there were many inflammable products in the workshop. Although the building remained standing, everything inside was completely destroyed by the flames, but luckily there were no injuries.  Two employees are now technically unemployed.

Man sentenced to 30 years for quadruple murder

In August 2020, 53 year old Thierry Cahuzac stabbed his parents to death in their home in Le Boulou.  The next day he went to the home of his former in-laws and shot them to death.  He handed himself in to the police and confessed his crimes but claimed his actions were justified – his parents had not been good parents to him and his ex-wife’s parents had supported her during their divorce.  During the 5 day trial there was much discussion as to whether he was paranoid or mentally responsible for his actions, but the experts decided that his place was in prison and not in a psychiatric environment.  

Hunter attacked by wild boar

A 45 year old man from Le Soler was bitten on the leg and injured on his forearm when a sanglier attacked him during a hunting trip near the Pic du Néolous on Sunday morning.  One of his fellow hunters quickly wrapped a tourniquet around his arm whilst they waited for help to arrive.  The rescue operation involved the Dragon 66 helicopter with a doctor on board, and also two CRS rescuers from Le Bolquère.  The rescue operation was complicated by the steep terrain but the man was finally evacuated to Perpignan hospital.

Traffic accident on the D900 near Rivesaltes

On Friday afternoon traffic ground to a halt for quite some time following a ‘pile-up’ on the D900.  A semi-trailer and a car caused the first accident before six other vehicles piled into them and caused several kilometres of traffic jams at the exit of Perpignan.  Nineteen firefighters went to the site to rescue drivers and passengers but despite the extent of the accident, only four people were slightly injured and were transported to hospital to be checked out.

The drought (and water restrictions) continue

Precipitation is down by 80% compared to normal, with barely 15 millimetres of rainfall in Perpignan in November, compared to the 80 millimetres we usually get.  This is obviously not enough to replenish the water tables and the Pyrénees-Orientales remains in drought condition.  With the temperatures being above normal, and the accompanying Tramontane winds, the préfecture have decided to prolong the water restrictions to February 24th.

And finally…

Ayguatébia-Talau is one of the smallest communes in the P-O with just 36 inhabitants.  Not usually a newsworthy village but evidently it was a slow news week as ActuPerpignan has been investigating why the residents are known as the “Carrallots”.  This term seems to have no link with the name of the village, which come from the latin ‘aqua tepida’ (tepid water) – so one does wonder where the name ‘Carrallots’ comes from as in Catalan it refers to a well-endowed man…