Hidalgo’s town hall raided following £51k trip to Tahiti

POLICE have raided Paris town hall as part of a probe into the socialist mayor’s taxpayer-funded trip to Tahiti, which she prolonged for a two-week “holiday”.

Anne Hidalgo’s trip to the French Pacific island, which requires a flight of around 24 hours from Paris, has sparked howls of disapproval from critics of the Left-wing mayor.

They accused her of overspending while massively raising housing tax to keep the city financially afloat. They also complained that the travel created a large carbon footprint for an official who claims to be an environmental crusader. Specialist financial crimes officers and prosecutors from the national financial prosecutor (PNF) took part in the raid.

Ms Hidalgo justified her trip by linking it to this year’s Paris Olympics, with the surfing contest set to be held at Teahupo’o in Tahiti. But she brought her partner and tacked on a two-week personal stay to the €60,000 (£51,200) official visit.

The anti-graft association AC!! (Anticorruption) said that her stay included a visit to her daughter, who lives on a nearby island. She has maintained that she paid for the personal leg of the travel, including her flight home.

Ms Hidalgo’s office had “already voluntarily produced supporting documentation regarding the journey”, it told AFP in a written statement.

The town hall also highlighted its own ethics commission – whose members are nominated by Ms Hidalgo – had found no issue with the Polynesia trip.

The statement justifying the trip “does not answer the basic question: how was this long stay of six people in the Pacific in the interest of Parisians?” said the protest group Changer Paris, dubbing the affair “Tahitigate”.

The mayor did not release pictures from her trip and instead during her time away continued posting on X, formerly Twitter, about daily Paris issues.

Le Monde said that she had “given the impression of not fully taking responsibility for being 16,732 kilometres from her city”, noting one video had shown her cycling along the Seine when she was in fact in New Caledonia.

Ms Hidalgo acknowledged the issue had “provoked reactions”. She added: “Parisians have the right to reliable, factual and transparent information.”