France, city of Perpignan goes against government and reopens museums on its own initiative

There is a clash in France between the city of Perpignan and the government over the issue of reopening museums. Mayor Louis Aliot (of Rassemblement National, Marine Le Pen’s party) has in fact decided independently to reopen the museums in the ancient Roussillon town (population 124,000, near the Spanish border): “Visiting the museums of Perpignan,” Aliot told broadcaster Europe 1 yesterday, “is no more dangerous than shopping at the supermarket.” The museums in France have been closed since the end of October, and the French government has not yet set a date for reopening them (Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot merely said they could reopen “in the next few weeks”).The mayor of Perpignan has therefore acted on his own and signed an ordinance that effectively overrides the government’s authority on the matter.

However, an institutional clash immediately ensued: the prefect of the Pyrénées-Orientales, Étienne Stoskopf, in fact appealed to the administrative court in Montpellier to have Aliot’s order annulled. However, the appeal to the court does not have the power to suspend the mayor’s order: in fact, therefore, the public can go to the museums. There are four museums affected by the measure, which provides for reopening as of 11 a.m. this morning: the Musée Hyacinthe Rigaud, dedicated to the great 18th-century portrait painter who was originally from Perpignan itself; the Casa Pairal; the Musée Puig; and the Musée d’Histoire Naturelle. According to Aliot, the museums can reopen because they are able to strictly observe health protocols: moreover, the first citizen claims the “right to experiment with reopenings on a local scale.”

For Aliot, this is nothing new, as he had already issued an order in October to reopen non-food stores that had been closed due to the second French lockdown: in that case, the process had been identical, and the mayor had been stopped by the administrative court. Thus, the outcome is expected to be similar for the reopening of museums. Nor is the desire to reopen museums a prerogative of right-wing politicians in France: in fact, proposals to reopen are bipartisan and come from across the constitutional spectrum. No mayor, however, had gone so far as to act on his own with an ordinance.

Photo: a room at the Musée Hyacinthe Rigaud in Perpignan.

France, city of Perpignan goes against government and reopens museums on its own initiative

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