2024-05-06 15:08:53
More than 150,000 spectators expected, around 6,000 members of the police mobilized, 1,000 ships registered in the nautical parade, nearly 4,000 boats previously cleared of mines in the Old Port with the help of 80 dogs… The figures are dizzying and illustrate the security issues surrounding the arrival of the Olympic flame in Marseille on May 8.
This Friday, the police prefect of Bouches-du-Rhône Pierre-Edouard Colliex, the maritime prefect of the Mediterranean Gilles Boidevezi, the prefect of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region Christophe Mirmand, the vice-president of the Metropolis Aix-Marseille-Provence Didier Reault and the mayor of Marseille Benoît Payan spoke in detail about the organization put in place for the event.
“We are mobilized for an incredible adventure, an extraordinary event to secure,” began the councilor. We put in everything we could in terms of strength, rigor and organization. It is no small thing to secure such an event, in an open, maritime space. We are going to achieve something that has never been done before by providing the most fluid and rigorous responses possible in order to have a celebration that corresponds to the Olympic spirit. Marseille will be in the spotlight with a billion viewers and hundreds of thousands of people on site. »
An exceptional nautical parade
For this unique influx, the institutions have concocted an important security system. Nearly 6,000 members of the police will be deployed, including the mobile gendarmes, the CRS, the Raid police, the air and maritime brigade and the soldiers of Operation “Sentinelle”. They will be accompanied by the City of Marseille agents concerned (firefighters, security personnel, municipal police officers, etc.).
The police will be scattered throughout the city with an increased presence in the Old Port, where the Belem will enter around 7 p.m., while the French patrol will unveil an air show at the same time.
Before that, the public will be able to see the three-masted vessel followed by hundreds of pre-registered ships in the northern (9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.) and southern (1 p.m.-3:30 p.m.) harbors of Marseille. These boats will display a flag which will allow them to be identified. Around forty administration ships will be on the water to check them.
In addition to the nautical parade, several maritime activities are planned: Provençal jousts, sailing schools and traditional rowing in front of l’Estaque, Marseille boats and rowing clubs off the coast of Malmousque, Olympic sails, southern sailing schools and kayaks, paddles below the Kennedy Corniche and Pointe Rouge.
After a daily navigation in the Phocaean harbor, the Belem will go around the Frioul islands to enter the Old Port, place of the lighting of the cauldron (7:40 p.m.), the highlight of the day. In the event of gusts greater than 25 knots, the nautical parade will be canceled. Recently, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin assured that there would be “an alternative”.
Florent Manaudou, first bearer of the Flame in France 🔥
It took one of our greatest athletes, a quadruple medalist at the Games, to be the first to set foot on French soil with the Olympic Flame in hand.
See you at the Old Port on May 8… pic.twitter.com/4umVkuvgaK— Paris 2024 (@Paris2024) April 26, 2024
Two convoys planned for the Olympic torch relay
An extraordinary event, a unique organization. It is therefore advisable to arrive early at the Old Port where numerous checkpoints will ensure the search and pat-down of visitors (filtering begins on May 8 at 7 a.m., ends on May 9 at 2 a.m.). Plainclothes police officers will be present and decompression zones have been planned to prevent any crowd movements, while a concert by local artists will be given at the bottom of the Canebière.
Please note that businesses will be able to continue to operate normally, as will hotels, restaurants and bars, including within the perimeter. The Vieux-Port station will be closed on May 8 and the stop will not be served. On Corniche Kennedy, traffic will not be cut off but concrete blocks have already been installed between the roadway and the sidewalk. Benoit Payan recalled that many sites in Marseille will allow you to observe the nautical parade.
The next day, the handover will begin. Hundreds of runners – notably local personalities – will cross several emblematic places: Notre-Dame de la Garde, Borély Park, the Palais du Pharo and the Vélodrome stadium at the end of the day. Two successive convoys are planned.
“For the Olympic flame, we will have an agile convoy, lighter, less dense and specific to certain symbolic places in the city, and a convoy engaging on the main arteries with many more people. An air security system will be deployed thanks to the air force with total coverage of the Marseille skies,” underlined Pierre-Edouard Colliex, while President Emmanuel Macron will also be present.
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