PARIS, Feb 14, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - French President Emmanuel Macron has
intervened in a row over the removal of booksellers from the banks of the
river Seine for the Paris Olympics, ruling that they should stay at their
historic locations, his office said on Tuesday.

Hundreds of booksellers, who operate from little dark green boxes by the
river, were set to be temporarily removed ahead of the Olympics opening
ceremony on the Seine on July 26.

The head of the Cultural Association of Booksellers of Paris had likened
their relocation to a "tooth extraction" and the organisation announced last
month that it would launch legal efforts to stop the process.

Macron "has asked the interior minister and the Paris prefect's office that
all of the booksellers are preserved and that none of them are forced to
move," a statement from the president's office said.

The decision came after "no consensual and reassuring solution" could be
found with the traders, who have been a feature of Parisian life for some 150
years.

Already struggling to bounce back from shutdowns during the Covid pandemic
and a longer-run loss of interest from locals, the booksellers are desperate
to profit from the arrival of an estimated 16 million tourists during the
Games.

The sporting extravaganza is set to begin with national teams sailing down a
6.0-kilometre (four-mile) stretch of the Seine on more than 100 boats -- the
first time the traditional opening ceremony has been held outside of the main
stadium.

The city's police, overseen by the government-appointed prefect, had ordered
the removal of around 600 of the 900 book kiosks over security concerns amid
fears that they could be used to conceal explosive devices.

The format of the open-air ceremony is a huge challenge for security forces
who will need to protect competitors, VIPs and spectators in a vast area of
the capital at a time of heightened concern about terror attacks.

Moving the booksellers was also seen as a way of increasing the space for
spectators on the banks of the river where around 300,000 ticketed fans are
set to watch the show.

- 'Don't leave!' -

The intervention from Macron reflects concern about the impact on public
opinion of removing a fixture of Parisian life, as well as growing criticism
of the disruption to everyday life caused by the Games.

Advance warnings about security and transport restrictions have led many
locals to plan holidays during the July 26-August 11 Olympics, sometimes in
order to rent out their homes for high prices to foreign visitors.

Other complaints centre on the construction work that snares traffic daily
around the capital, while resentment lingers over the handling of ticket
sales last year that saw many Parisians priced out.

"Don't leave this summer, don't leave! That would be a mistake," mayor Anne
Hidalgo urged the city's inhabitants on Sunday as she inaugurated the only
new permanent Olympics sports arena to be built in inner Paris.

"It's going to be incredible," she said.

Surveys suggest a large majority of French people back the Olympics, with a
poll in November indicating that 65 percent of respondents were in favour.

Most of the sporting and transport infrastructure existed before the Games,
part of Paris' pitch for a relatively low-budget event that organisers say
will be 50 percent less polluting than previous editions measured by CO2
emissions.

The Olympics will be followed by the Paralympics from August 28-September 8.