仏で爆弾脅迫相次ぐ　不満募らせる観光客、当局や業界も懸念

【ベルサイユＡＦＰ＝時事】フランスではこのところ、ベルサイユ宮殿やルーブル美術館といった観光名所や空港などに爆弾を仕掛けたという偽の脅迫が相次いでいる。（写真はフランス・パリ近郊にあるベルサイユ宮殿）
　同国では、パレスチナ自治区ガザ地区を実効支配するイスラム組織ハマスによるイスラエルへの攻撃と、それに対するイスラエル軍による報復攻撃を受け、警戒レベルが引き上げられている。また１３日には北部アラスで、イスラム過激派組織「イスラム国」の名の下で教師が殺害される事件も起きた。
　首都パリ近郊にあるベルサイユ宮殿では２１日、爆破予告があり、来場者が避難を余儀なくされた。１週間で６度目の偽の爆弾脅迫だった。
　警察筋によると、当時宮殿内には約５０００人がいた。安全が確認され宮殿への入場が再開されるまで、雨が降る中、広大な庭園で自撮りを楽しむ人もいた一方で、不満を隠さず、ルーブル美術館の閉鎖が重ならないようにと願いながら、パリ中心部まで戻った観光客もいた。
　事態を受けて、観光客はもとより、主要財源が脅かされる恐れがあるとして、地元自治体や観光業界も懸念を示し始めている。
　ベルサイユ宮殿の広報担当者によると、この時期は１日に最大１万５０００人が来場する。現時点では、予約のキャンセルは増えていないという。
　宮殿から数百メートルの場所にある土産物店の店長は「客足に影響が出始めている」として、数日前からすでに店番の数を減らしていると話した。
　１９日には、全国で少なくとも１１の空港に爆弾脅迫があり、避難が行われた。翌２０日にも１８の空港が同様の予告を受け、うち１０の空港で利用者が避難した。
　こうした爆弾脅迫は仏警察の通報サイトを通して寄せられており、多くの場合、送信者の特定は難しい。予告のたびに安全確認に大きな労力を費やさざるを得ない警察も、いら立ちを募らせつつある。
　クレマン・ボーヌ交通担当相は２０日、「はっきり言っておきたい。こうしたいたずらに及ぶ者は、自分を賢いと思っているか、ちょっとした冗談のつもりだろうが、実際は大変な愚か者であり、その上紛れもない犯罪者だ」と警告した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/10/24-17:06）

Another day, another evacuation at the Palace of Versailles.
For security reasons, the Palace of Versailles is evacuating visitors and will reopen as soon as the checks have been completed. Thank you for your understanding, the great former royal residence outside Paris said Saturday in a now all-too-familiar message.
Saturday's evacuation after a bomb threat which turned out to be false was the sixth such one in a week.
The situation is now starting to agitate not just tourists but also local officials and tourism sector players, who see the risk of a key income source dwindling.
France upped its attack alert level in the wake of a fatal stabbing of a schoolteacher earlier this month by a man who claimed the act in the name of the Islamic State extremist group.
The attack in the northern city of Arras also came amid heightened concern over security after the attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas against Israel which has been followed by retaliatory air strikes on the Gaza Strip.
Against this background, France has over the last days been plagued by false bomb threats not just against the Palace of Versailles but also the Louvre museum and a host of regional airports just as autumn holidays are under way.
- 'One thing I wanted to do' -
After being banished from the palace due to the security alert, tourists had to content themselves with selfies in the rain with the statue of the sun king Louis XIV in the vast outer courtyard.
There were some 5,000 people inside the palace at the time of Saturday's evacuation, said a police source. The palace reopened later in the day following checks.
I'm from California. It's the one thing I wanted to do in Paris. It's frustrating, said Juliette Harris, who was visiting with her husband and two children.
Preferring not to stay in Versailles, which is half an hour's train ride west of Paris, her family then headed to the Louvre museum in the centre, in the hope that it would not be shut down too.
Most of the false bomb threats, which are posted on French police website moncommissariat.fr are hard to track down.
I was worried that there would be an alert, but thought it might come in the afternoon, said Camille Froment from the Tarn region of southern France who is visiting for two weeks with her son.
I am leaving on Monday and it will be tough to reschedule with a visit to Versailles, she added.
- 'Serious offenders' -
Even at this time of year, up to 15,000 people can visit the palace every day, a spokeswoman said, adding that for now, we have not observed any trend of cancellations by visitors.
Each cancelled visit can be refunded.
But the mayor of Versailles, Francois de Mazieres (LR), on Friday told Franceinfo radio that visitors are hesitant to come now, and that if the alerts continue to multiply, it could have consequences on attendance.
In the city, businesses are already seeing sales decline.
The turnover is starting to fall, said Ahmed Imran, manager of a souvenir store a few hundred metres (yards) from the palace, where staff have already been reduced in recent days.
Shortly after the alert, restaurant tables were full of disappointed tourists, who had come to take refuge while waiting for the reopening.
Afterwards, it dries up, and quickly once the alert has passed. In the longer term we see fewer and fewer tourists, said Enzo Aracil, a waiter in a cafe.
The frustration is also beginning to be felt in the police, who must deploy considerable resources at each alert to secure the area.
It takes time, and during that time colleagues are not doing their daily tasks, said Tony Vallee, of the Yvelines region police.
At least 11 airports nationwide carried out evacuations on Thursday after receiving threats. Ten were evacuated Friday, among 18 targeted by bomb threats.
Only one airport on Saturday -- Tours in the Loire region -- was evacuated. The two main airports in Paris have so far not been affected on any day.
I want to say it very clearly, the smart guys or the little jokers who play these games are in fact big fools, even serious offenders, Transport Minister Clement Beaune said Friday.