The Parisian booksellers, the largest open-air bookstore in the world, present for 450 years on the banks of the Seine, refuse to be moved by the authorities to ensure the security of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris, a-t -we learned Thursday from concordant sources. For the first time in Olympic history, the ceremony will take place outside a stadium, on the Seine, in the heart of the capital, on July 26, 2024.
In a letter addressed to booksellers on July 25, the Paris police headquarters considers it “essential” to secure the event that the boxes, in which they sell second-hand books and which are located within the perimeter of the ceremony, are “kidnapped”. The prefecture relies in particular on an article of the Internal Security Code which provides for a perimeter where “the access and movement of people are regulated” in order to ensure the security of a “place or event exposed to a risk of acts of terrorism”.
Questioned by AFP, the representative of some 200 booksellers of the Cultural Association of Booksellers of Paris, or 88% of the total, assures that they have “no intention of moving”.
“During a meeting organized on July 10 at the town hall, the deputy to the Seine clearly explained to us that we were going to obstruct the view on the day of the ceremony”, castigates the president of this association, Jérôme Callais. “We are a major symbol of Paris, we have been here for 450 years. Wanting to erase ourselves from the landscape when the celebration of these Games must be the celebration of Paris, it seems a bit crazy,” he adds.
In a press release Thursday, the City of Paris assures booksellers of its support and recognizes that their activity “is part of the identity of the banks of the Seine”. It estimates that 570 boxes are affected by a possible removal, or 59% of the total.
Without however going back on the injunction of the prefecture, the town hall proposes to take charge of the removal and the refitting of the boxes, as well as the renovation “at its expense” of those which will have been damaged in the operation. “This renovation will constitute an additional element of the legacy of the Games and will contribute to supporting the candidacy of the booksellers of the banks of the Seine for the intangible cultural heritage of Unesco”, she adds.
The City also invites booksellers to participate in a “village of booksellers” in a literary district “close to the Seine”. Jérôme Callais believes that some boxes are “too fragile” to be transported and estimates the renovation of all the boxes at 1.5 million euros.
