Marseille hit by petty crime wave as staycationers flock to beaches

MARSEILLE is grappling with a surge in fighting and pickpocketing on overcrowded beaches because many residents have been forced to cancel holidays elsewhere.

The rowdy Mediterranean port city is notorious for gang wars, street violence and drugs trafficking, an image that tends to put off tourists.

But this year its beaches are packed with locals, as youths from its deprived, crime-ridden northern suburbs hang around the beach front, unable to go on their usual holidays to North Africa. At the same time the numbers of French tourists have increased because of the difficulties of travelling abroad.

Sandrine Touyon, the head of a local residents’ association, said: “We’re seeing a new phenomenon, with hordes of youths arriving at noon with ice boxes and crowding into coves, blaring music, drinking all day and into the evening.” Alcohol-fuelled fights often break out, while the beaches have become a magnet for pickpockets, residents say.

Students Suzanne and Françoise said their phones had been stolen from their bags in the Vallon des Auffes fishing harbour, a popular spot for sunbathing and swimming. “We didn’t notice that local people had put up notices warning that pickpockets were in the area,” Suzanne said.

Emmanuel Barbe, the police chief, acknowledged that local residents were reporting a rise in petty crime, but he downplayed the problem. “In absolute terms, there is no significant increase in delinquency,” he insisted.

But residents say the statistics do not reflect the true picture because minor crimes often go unreported. Claire Pitollat, a local MP, has urged the government to send police reinforcements to Marseille to maintain order on its 33 beaches. She said the 150 police officers, lifeguards and social workers responsible for the 11 most popular sites were overwhelmed.

The Marseille tourist office was unable to provide figures for the numbers of people who had cancelled holidays, but a spokesman said: “There are a lot of French tourists this summer and the Marseillais aren’t leaving on holiday, especially those of North African origin, who usually spend two months with their families there.”

Fazia Hamiche, the head of Citoyens en Actions de Proximité, an NGO that works with children in deprived areas, estimated that about 65,000 residents had cancelled holidays in North Africa.

“No activities have been organised for all these young people,” she said. “We didn’t anticipate the Covid wave that’s hit North Africa.”

‘We’re seeing hordes of youths with ice boxes crowding into coves, blaring music, drinking all day’