One year before the Olympics, a carefree crowd of tourists and Parisians gathered on Friday evening to admire the July 14 fireworks from the Eiffel Tower, far from the urban violence of the beginning of the summer.
According to the Paris City Hall, as in 2022, some 70,000 people had taken place in the secure area of the Champ-de-Mars to attend the classical concert and then the pyrotechnic show that followed, from 11:10 p.m.
“Popular festivals, concerts and fireworks were able to take place everywhere in France with a significant drop in damage compared to 2022”tweeted the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin.
255 vehicles burned
According to the provisional report of the Ministry of the Interior established at 5.30 a.m., the night from Friday to Saturday was “overall calmer than the previous year”. A total of 255 burned vehicles were recorded, against 423 last year, the ministry said.
There were 96 arrests and 7 police officers, gendarmes and firefighters injured, compared to 21 in 2022. Some “51 uses of fireworks against the police” were counted, compared to 333 in 2022.
The Ministry of the Interior had already observed a drop in damage during the night of July 13, traditionally also marked by incidents. Like the day before, 45,000 police and gendarmes, including, for the first time on July 14, elite units, were mobilized on Saturday evening. In Paris and in the neighboring departments, around 10,000 police and gendarmes were on the ground for this July 14 under reinforced surveillance.
A device similar to that deployed during the urban violence following the death of Nahel M., 17, killed by the shooting of a police officer during a road check in Nanterre on June 27. Around 165,000 firework mortars, highly prized by rioters, have been seized since June 27, Place Beauvau said on Saturday.
The big cities of France at the rendezvous
Several municipalities had decided to give up their fireworks, especially in Ile-de-France and in the North. But in Paris, the town hall had maintained the party around the iconic monument. The mayor, Anne Hidalgo, spoke to Agence France-Presse about the importance “of these moments of gathering with family or friends”adding that it was about “the image of France in the world one year before the Games [olympiques] ».
At 7 p.m., the esplanade was already packed. Even the dusty side aisles had been taken over. The “Concert de Paris”, broadcast in mondovision, was launched shortly after 9 p.m. Soprano Marie-Laure Garnier interpreted The Marseillaise.
Online courses, evening courses, workshops: develop your skills
Discover
In Toulouse, it was on the banks of the Garonne that spectators gathered to admire the fireworks, while in Lyon, the Fourvière hill lit up. In Ajaccio, holidaymakers and locals met at the port.
