..."We don’t steal. We just use the pool.” Claiming that their religion prohibits them from using public pools during the period of Ramadan, a gang of five to six ‘jeunes’, from 12 to 25, regularly invite themselves into the pool of an elderly couple who live on the estate dominated by the Valdegour tower blocks, in Nîmes.
Before filing a complaint, and in a spirit of appeasement, the owners made several dialogue attempts, which were totally ineffective. In response, they got stones. The intrusions or attempted intrusions occurring on a daily basis, the couple spent all their money on reinforcing the fences. A total loss! The retired couple ended up filing a complaint. On Sunday 28 July, the police arrested three of the swimming pool squatters who were taken to the police station. On 29 July, a 1-metre hole had again been cut in the fencing. “As these ‘jeunes’ arrive in a group, they intimidate the elderly couple, says Madeleine Salles, president of the committee of the l’Alouette district, which preaches respectful and serene cohabitation.