The Paris 2024 Olympic Games open on July 26. The Minister of the Interior announced this morning a reduction in the number of spectators at the opening ceremony.
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There will be approximately 300,000 spectators along the Seine, much less than the approximately 400,000 we were talking about two months ago, or the 600,000 spectators we dreamed of at the very beginning, when we could only see in this ceremony as the great celebration of sport and the crazy possibilities of this boat show on the Seine.
Since then, the Ministry of the Interior and the police chief have worked on security. The terrorist threat is significant. There were also discussions with the second-hand booksellers who are all along the quays and who defend their famous green wooden book boxes, which contribute to the image of Paris. A support forum and petition were launched last summer. column signed by Edgar MorinMona Ozouf or even Michelle Perrot.
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Result, if we are to believe Gérald Darmanin: there will therefore be 100,000 spectators on the lower quays for the ceremony – no change there. Those who were able to buy tickets (the most expensive of which were 2,700 euros) will be in the stands.
But for spectators in the high platforms, which are there, free seats, we are only talking about 220,000 seats. And these free places do not mean that just anyone will be able to show up. You will need to have a free ticket, since it will be a red zone.
The final gauge should be revealed in the spring, before the implementation of free ticketing.
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An exceptional bonus for law enforcement
The global security context is not favorable with the recent conflict in the Middle East, to which is added the war in Ukraine weighing heavily. Some 45,000 police officers and gendarmes will provide security during the opening ceremony. We have heard the concerns of the police who are very regularly called upon at weekends, and who fear not being able to spend family vacations with these Olympic and then Paralympic Games, in the heart of summer. Police officers demonstrated in mid-January in several provincial towns to protest against the conditions of their mobilization. Yesterday Tuesday, the Minister of the Interior announced that an exceptional bonus of 1000 euros would be granted to those who limit their periods of leave. A bonus which could go up to 1,900 euros for law enforcement working in Ile-de-France
The traffic headache
The devil is in the details. Ensuring public safety is one thing. We must also ensure that public transport will allow these 300,000 spectators to return home between 11:30 p.m. and midnight. By public transport because traffic will be reserved for emergency or rescue vehicles. The CEO of RATP (the Paris transport authority) is former Prime Minister Jean Castex, generally considered a man of dialogue and one of the challenges is to recruit enough train drivers and bus. Announcements are broadcast to this effect in Parisian transport.
This week the CGT RATP union filed a strike notice which runs from February 5 to September 9 – the day after the end of the Paralympic Games. This union believes that the salary increases are not up to par.