2023-11-23 15:08:23
It has become a habit for five years. The Strasbourg Christmas market will open on Friday for its 453rd edition, a “moment of cohesion” surrounded by a security system which will mobilize more than 1,000 agents and, for the first time, drones.
Five years after a deadly attack, “the Christmas market must remain a friendly and warm moment,” said environmentalist mayor Jeanne Barseghian during a press conference. “Given the national and international context, we need moments of sharing and cohesion, and the Christmas market is one of them.”
In 2018, the market was the scene of an attack which left five people dead and 11 injured. The mayor announced a “special ceremony” on December 11 for the fifth anniversary of the attack, a “moment of memory and cohesion for the victims and the people of Strasbourg”.
This “Christkindelsmärik”, in the Alsatian language, or market of the Child Christ, begins Friday with the inauguration of a majestic tree of around thirty meters installed in the heart of the city, Place Kléber, and ends the day before Christmas, December 24.
The format of the opening ceremony was revised with entertainment every hour on the first day rather than a single event at a fixed time, in order to avoid crowd movements, and the times were extended, with closing at 9 p.m. every evening rather than 8 p.m.
All around the tree, in different squares and up to the cathedral square, hundreds of chalets have been set up to offer craft products, gingerbread and even mulled wine. Their layout has been revised to widen the aisles and make walking more pleasant. Nearly three million visitors are expected during these four weeks, helping to boost the local economic fabric: certain establishments, particularly food shops, achieve a turnover in December equivalent to that of the other 11 months of the year.
Drones used for the first time
On the security side, the prefect of Bas-Rhin, Josiane Chevalier, announced a system “further reinforced” compared to previous years, mobilizing “considerable resources”, a few weeks after the attack in Arras which cost the life of a teacher in mid-October and led to the Vigipirate plan being raised to the maximum “emergency attack” level.
The prefecture has authorized the use of drones by the national police, “in addition to video protection”, an authorization contested in the administrative court by Strasbourg residents who criticize surveillance “to the detriment of fundamental freedoms” and the “disproportionate perimeter” at within which these drones will be able to fly.
They also deplore surveillance “of behavior on an individual scale”. The summary judge will deliver his decision by Friday 2 p.m.
Another new feature, as part of the fight against terrorism, military patrols will be increased threefold, to “ensure visibility, deterrence, and reassure fellow citizens,” indicated General Ludovic Pinon, military governor of Strasbourg. Dog teams will complement the foot patrols, and random checks will be carried out at each entrance to the old town.
The prefect also welcomed the mobilization of “six mobile force units” which will be added to local national police units. These reinforcements should allow law enforcement to be established “every 200 m”, and an intervention time “less than a minute”, according to Dominique Rodriguez, deputy departmental director of public security.
“More than 1,000 people will be mobilized every day to ensure the security of the Christmas market,” reassured Josiane Chevalier. “No other market is as secure, but no other market has such attendance.”
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