Anne Hidalgo will travel well to Toulouse to close her campaign. Whatever the result of the citizens’ primary, to which the mayor of Paris now refuses to submit, she will speak in the pink city, or nearby, on Saturday April 2, for what is presented as the last meeting in the provinces before the first round. There will undoubtedly be a final Parisian meeting before April 10.
A well-established tradition
It thus conforms to the socialist tradition which wants that with each presidential election, the candidate of the PS finishes its marathon by Toulouse. Benoit Hamon at the Zenith in 2017, François Holland place du Capitole before the second round in 2012 or of course the huge gatherings of François Mitterrand at the Stadium in 1981 then tents in Portet-sur-Garonne in 1988, which brought together tens of thousands of people.
The place that Anne Hidalgo’s entourage will choose on April 2 remains to be determined. Large structures are excluded for both health and political reasons. The socialist will find it difficult to fill an enclosure like the Stadium (16,000 seats) or the Place du Capitole which may seem a little sparse if less than 35,000 people do not gather there. And the mayor of Toulouse is no longer a socialist.
Not necessarily Toulouse city
There are still other rooms of course, as long as they are not used for Covid vaccinations as Hall 8 of the Exhibition center and especially the room Mermoz. One of the most beautiful settings in the pink city, the Grain Hall in the city center is also a prestigious choice but Fabien Roussel, the PCF candidate will have already occupied it on March 27. It is difficult to see a choice made on the Zenith, where Benoit Hamon finished his race in 2017.
That leaves out-of-town options like wallet in 1988, Castelnau d’Estretefonds in 2002 with Lionel Jospin who had preferred Labege in 1995. And why not decide to see Anne Hidalgo with the Pyrenees in the background, at her friend Carole Delga’s Martres-Tolosaneor even at his other Toulouse spokesperson, the mayor of Cintegabelle, Sebastien Vincini. Risky bet, more modest choice, to also see if these two municipalities have the technical capacity, they are in any case both 50 minutes by road from Toulouse, and directly accessible by TER from Matabiau.