The confusion was easy to make and the Ministry of the Interior fell for it. The mayor of Saint-Urbain, a small town of 1,650 inhabitants not far from Brest (Finistère), was surprised to receive a letter signed by Gérald Darmanin. The Minister of the Interior expressed his “solidarity” to him after the degradations committed voluntarily on the vehicle of the mayor. Except that the recipient’s car is doing very well, unlike that of the mayor of Saint-Urbain in Vendée, a town of 1,900 inhabitants near the island of Noirmoutier.
The minister (or more likely his secretariat), simply got the wrong name between the homonymous municipalities, reports The Telegram. The error was eventually corrected by Place Beauvau. Julien Poupon, the Finistère mayor, was amused and also transmitted his “support” to his Vendée counterpart who appreciated the two expressions of sympathy.
On September 29, in Saint-Urbain in Vendée, a teenager who recognized the mayor kicked his personal vehicle. The mirrors had been broken and the body damaged. The young suspect had been arrested and prosecuted.