Access to the municipal swimming pool of Porrentruy, Switzerland, 10 km from the border was restricted due to an increase in incivility. The Swiss and the holders of a Swiss work permit will be the only ones authorized to access it.
The French asked not to come to bathe. The city of Porrentruy, in the Swiss Jura, decided to “limit access to the municipal swimming pool” from this Friday, July 4. This town is located about ten kilometers from the border with France.
Only “people of Swiss nationality, holders of an establishment permit and holders of a valid Swiss work permit” will be authorized to access the swimming pool until August 31.
Repeated incivility
The Municipality of Porrentruy and the Inter -municipal Syndicate of the District of Porrentruy (SIDP) explain, in a press release published this Tuesday, July 2, that the objective of this measure is to “guarantee the safety of users of the outdoor swimming pool in and around the basin on the one hand and to preserve a serene, respectful and secure climate on the other.”
Indeed, municipal services have counted “more than twenty people” excluded and prohibited from access to the swimming pool since the start of the season, without specifying their nationality. These sanctions have been taken “due to inappropriate behavior, incivility and non-compliance with the rules in force,” said the press release.
“A security member has been threatened and physically molested,” said the mayor of Porrentruy Philippe Eggertswyler in an article published by Radio Frequency Jura.
Alerted by Alsatian cross-border workers, the regional councilor of the Grand-Est region Christian Zimmermann sent a letter to the mayor of Porrentruy. In the latter, the elected official of the national rally judges this measure “discriminatory and disproportionate” and asks Philippe Eggertswyler to return to his decision.
The municipality of Porrentruy had already set up this restriction of access to the summer of 2020, in the context of the health crisis. The objective was to limit attendance, and thus, allow users to respect the compulsory distances and barrier gestures at the time.
