It is midday and the terraces of the restaurants located on the Promenade Georges Pompidou in Marseille are deserted. “It’s been like this since June” laments Ethan, owner of the restaurant “Le 8ème Sud”.This is my worst season since 2014, when I opened. I have at least 60% losses. […] These Olympic Games are a big disappointment.”
He points his finger work to prepare the marina to host the Olympic sailing events from June and the removal of parking spaces by the dozen, driving away its customers.
A call for help launched at Marseille city hall
“We were told that there would be no food or drink in the marina, while there were food trucks at Club 2024” grumbles Fatiah Hamadouche, owner of the restaurant “La Balagne.” She lost 80% of her turnover compared to a classic summer: “The mayor of Marseille, Mr Payan, absolutely must release funds to compensate us, otherwise we are heading for bankruptcy.”
With other restaurateurs, Fatiah created the Prado Plage David traders association and hopes for action from the public authorities. This restaurateur, who has been living here for over 20 years, hopes that Marseille will follow the example of Paris, where traders penalized by the Games will be compensated.
