(Paris) French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin indicated on Wednesday that around 300,000 spectators will be able to attend the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games, half as many as initially anticipated.
The gigantic spectacle which will take place on the Seine on July 26 will be the first opening ceremony to take place outside a stadium.
This decision will increase the level of security surrounding the event, and tens of thousands of police and soldiers will be deployed for the occasion.
The athletes will parade through the heart of the French capital aboard boats which will navigate the Seine. Spectators will be able to gather on the banks, behind multiple security cordons.
PHOTO FLORIAN HULLEU, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
In an interview on the French television channel France 2, Darmanin indicated that current plans call for around 100,000 spectators to gather along the banks of the Seine, while around 220,000 others will receive free tickets to mass on the heights. banks.
The organizing committee had initially planned to offer around 600,000 spectators to attend the opening ceremony, and Darmanin would not specify the reasons why this number was reduced by half.
Asked if he was having insomnia about the ceremony, Darmanin replied that he was sleeping well.
“I know that we have the best security forces in the world and we will demonstrate that France is able to win medals and, above all, to welcome the whole world without any problem,” he said. .
In December, French President Emmanuel Macron said the opening ceremony could be moved for security reasons if France is hit again by terrorist attacks. He cited the attacks that shook Paris in 2015 as an example of an extreme crisis that could force the organizing committee to review its plans.