AND HERE IS THE NEWS…
….a light look at the latest local news
When actions speak louder than words – 2 teenage boys had spent the whole of Tuesday in a ‘dark dispute’ so their respective fathers decided to meet in LeClerc car-park (Espace Polygon) to sort the matter out in an orderly and adult fashion. Unfortunately they were members of two rival gypsy gangs and the discussion rapidly descended into a vicious fistfight, then somebody was shot in the stomach, then somebody else was stabbed (needing 100 stitches), and another person (and his white van) were peppered with buckshot. Amazingly the protagonists were unscathed – but are ‘helping police with their enquiries’.
Did the earth move for you? – An earthquake measuring 2.5 on the richter scale was felt in the Fenouillèdes region on Saturday night. The epicentre was in Rasiguères, where some residents felt their houses shake slightly.
Mystery over closure of two cafés in Perpignan – The recently refurbished Grand Café de La Poste (at the foot of the Castillet) and the Café de la Paix (Place Arago) have been closed since last week. Both cafés are owned by Brasserie Milles, who deny that there is anything strange about both cafés being closed, stating that La Paix is being refurbished, and that the manager of La Poste is on annual leave – for “2 or 3 weeks”.
Latest Drugs Haul – Customs officers in Le Perthus seized 2.3 tons of cannabis, hidden among fruit and vegetables in a lorry driven by a Romanian man. This is one of the biggest ‘finds’ to date – and is close to the record set at Narbonne when 2.9 tons were found in a Spanish lorry. In 2017, a total of 46 tons of cannabis were seized by customs officers up 31% from 2016), and 2018 is expected to break new records.
A trip to the Theatre – Hospital can be a scary place for children (and adults!) but Perpignan Hospital has introduced a great new idea; they now have 2 mini electric cars so children can make the 200 metre journey from their ward to the operating room behind the wheel of a black SUV or a red Ferrari! As yet there are no plans to introduce these in the adult wards….
And finally:
The Boar War – A recent video of a wild boar and her piglets (*boarlets?) on the beach at Port Bou made everybody go ‘ooh’ and ‘aahh’ – except for the Mayor, whose response is probably unprintable. He is fed up that all his attempts to keep sangliers out of the town are being thwarted by locals who regularly release them from the traps and even feed them. ‘Some have even been seen next to people drinking beer in a bar’ complained the mayor, bitterly. (Didn’t even know that boar liked beer! Ed)
*Baby boar – marcassin
