Private beaches, bars, nightclubs… SOS Racisme denounces the persistence of discrimination in certain establishments

Despite the recurring campaigns, nothing changes. SOS racism has just published the results of its summer testing, as it does regularly, the association wanted to verify the existence of discrimination and measure their extent at the entrance to leisure establishments in 13 French towns near the coast. In all, 56 establishments – private beaches, bars, restaurants or nightclubs – were tested from Touquet-Paris-Plage (Pas-de-Calais) in Cannes (Alpes-Maritimes) via La Baule, Nantes, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Palavas-les-Flots and Aix-en-Provence.

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Each time, three couples present themselves who are distinguished only by their apparent origin: European for one, North African for the other and sub-Saharan for the third couple. In one out of six cases, there was differential treatment with either a refusal of entry on a fallacious pretext indicating that the couple is “too young” or even that“you had to book”or a degraded service: a less good location offered on a private beach, for example.

SOS racism notes that discrimination seems to be more important, rising to one in three establishments in the Hérault at Palavas-les-Flots, Montpellier and La Grande-Motte. The association asks the prefects concerned to recall the law, to sanction the guilty establishments and wishes that visible posters remind everyone of the illegal nature of any discrimination.