AND HERE IS THE NEWS…

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

And here is the news – a light look at the latest local news

Man found inanimate outside supermarket

On Wednesday afternoon a 73 year old man was found totally inanimate in the car park of the Spar supermarket in the Jardins Saint Jacques area of Perpignan.  He was rushed to hospital and placed in a medical coma, and remains in this condition today.  According to information he had traces of bruising on his head but there were no witnesses to say whether he had just suffered a malaise and collapsed or whether he had been assaulted – although the police have serious suspicions in favour of the second hypothesis.  

Club Med considering opening a holiday village in Le Barcares

The famous tourism group are looking at an area of Le Barcarès on which to build a large holiday village: a leisure resort oriented in particular towards water sports.  The XXL village would be sited on the wastelands of the former VVF holiday village which has been closed for 2 years.  The site is not far from the Lydia beach and is where the Christmas Village and the Déferlantes festival are held every year.  Club Med Le Barcarès would be only the 3rd holiday village located near the seaside in France, and with 450 rooms proposed would create 500 jobs for the region.

Baby panther born in EcoZonia

With less than 100 existing in the wild the Amur panther is close to extinction, so EcoZonia, the wildlife park in Cases-de-Pène, is particularly proud to announce the birth of a baby male panther.  Since 2023 there have only been 3 births – one in France and two in England.  Unfortunately the news is not all good as Zyra the mother succumbed to an infection and died, so the baby is being bottle-fed – but is said to to be doing well and already weighs 2.5 kilos.

Two missions for mountain rescue team

Saturday night was busy for the CRS mountain rescue team based in Bolquère.  Firstly two cyclists from Argelès-sur-Mer took their electric bikes on the trails on the Pic des Quatre Termes and became lost when thick fog descended.  They called for help and by using mobile phones and geolocation they were spotted and were able to follow the advice of the CRS team and push their bicycles north onto the Col des Trois Hetres trail.  By nightfall they had reached Sorède and were able to call relatives to pick them up.  At around the same time a couple from the Netherlands had been walking in the Porté-Puymorens area and had been surprised by the snow, fog and early nightfall.  They sheltered in the barracks of the old iron mines and the CRS squad were able to reach them using their caterpillar track quad – although they had to finish their journey on foot and skis due to the difficult conditions.  The couple were finally returned, unharmed, to their hotel at Pas de la Casa at 2am.

New name for Pollestres roundabout

Apparently the roundabout on the D900 at Pollestres (where there is the new Un Gite Une Gamelle refuge, the car-pool area, the Gendarmerie and the turning for Emmaüs) has always been called Abbé Pierre roundabout, in honour of the man who founded the Emmaüs charity.  Although Abbé Pierre (actually called Henri Grouès) died in 2007 there have been several allegations of sexual assaults by dozens of victims and everybody is keen to distance themselves from any association with this name.  So, the municipal council of Pollestres have decided to rename the roundabout “Emmaüs Companions roundabout” and everybody is now content.

Major police operation – controlling electric scooters.

Last Wednesday police carried out a thorough check on anybody riding electric scooters on the major streets of Perpignan.  As with any mode of travel there are rules to respect and for an electric scooter this involves firstly being over the age of 14, the scooter must be restricted to a top speed of 25kmh, must have mandatory equipment such as audible warning, brakes, reflectors and lights.  Insurance is also essential (a point to check if you are renting one).  While helmets are recommended they are not actually mandatory.  In just one hour of checking the police came up with several infractions including one individual who was fined for wearing headphones and riding on the pavement, one who had no reflectors and bald tyres, and two 17 year olds were fined 90€ for both riding on the same scooter.

And finally…

I imagine that many of us have much to say about President Trump at the moment, and a Democrat Senator has just given a speech in the Senate denouncing Trump’s policies which lasted 25 hours. This pales into insignificance compared to local legend Lluis Colet, a 78 year old Catalan from Perpignan who holds the world record for the longest speech, having talked for 124 hours. The former guide of Le Castillet first entered the Guinnes Book of Records in 1998 when he gave a 24 hour tribute to Dali at Perpignan station. In 2004 he increased this to 48 hours for the centenary of the painter’s birth, and then finally he completed his 124 hour discourse on the subject of “The Catalans in speech and poetry”.  He apparently returns to the station every August 27th to pay tribute to Dali.  

Caroline Manson is an independent Property Consultant – for advice on buying, selling, renting or renovating, don’t hesitate to contact her at caroline@perpignan-properties.com

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