Parisians alternate between lack of interest and opposition to the Olympic Games. It’s about the impact this event will have on the daily lives of those who live and work in the French capital.

Paris will host the Olympics in 100 days, but the French and especially Parisians are wavering between disinterest and opposition due to the impact on the daily lives of those who live and work in the French capital.

Preparations for the Olympics are accelerating across Paris, with President Emmanuel Macron opening the Saint-Denis aquatic center this week, signage to be installed on transport and a host of unfinished work that the organization promises will be completed by July. However, what the French capital lacks is the Olympic spirit.

A poll published on Sunday by La Tribune Dimanche newspaper and carried out by Ipsos shows that only 53% of respondents are interested in these Olympic Games, which will take place from July 26 to August 11, and that every second respondent says that even if I have no confidence in a good organization of this event. But where does this dissatisfaction come from?

“France is a unique democracy in which the national sport is a systematic critique of everything, and that’s not a bad thing, it means people are concerned and involved. The French demonstrate, they go on strike, and I think there is a certain democratic health, but of course it causes some difficulties. Therefore, whether it is the Olympic Games or another event, the French will show their critical spirit,” explained Patrick Clastres, Olympic historian and professor at the university’s Faculty of Social and Political Sciences. de Lausanne, in a statement to Lusa.

Back in 2020, as more was known about the exact location of the major infrastructure of Paris 2024 – much of which would be built on the outskirts of the capital, in some of France’s poorest communes such as Saint-Denis, Saint-Ouen or Aubervilliers – a collective was created Saccage 2024, or robbery, in Portuguese.

This is an anonymous collective that brings together several associations from the department of Seine-Saint-Denis, one of the poorest in France, and has been fighting for the last four years against the construction of the Olympic Village, training centers or even new access to the Stade de France for the destruction of green areas or the displacement of associations. supporting the poorest people in these cities.

“We began to see these impacts associated with the construction of large structures from the very beginning, as many residents were displaced from the areas where the Olympic Village was built. Another example is that a community garden that had existed for decades was destroyed so that an Olympic swimming pool could be built,” said Luse Natsuko, a member of the group.

French authorities have been trying to solve the problem of population density in Paris for almost a century and a project that began to be explored in the early 2000s is Greater Paris, which plans to expand the boundaries of the capital to nearby cities. For the Saccage 2024 team, the Olympic Games were just an excuse to promote this project.

“Obviously there is a huge pressure on real estate in these cities, but this predates the Olympic Games themselves, with the idea of ​​expanding the city of Paris into its immediate suburbs. The Olympic Games really were an accelerator of this process and we are well aware that in recent years many people have been forced to leave their homes,” Natsuko added.

In Saint-Denis, since the announcement of the Olympic Games in Paris (in 2017), house prices have increased by 25%, a trend that has spread throughout the Parisian Ile-de-France region and coincided with a real estate crisis and a decline in purchasing power in recent years. abilities make it difficult to have a festive atmosphere.

“It is important to create a national identity for the Olympic Games, but around what? We live in France at a time when foreigners are being expelled, illegal immigrants are being persecuted, and the French themselves are seeing their rights diminished every day and their standard of living declining. People are watching this and at the same time so much public money is being poured into one event,” said Patrick Clastres.

Paris 2024 will also serve as a “reckoning” for many sectors dissatisfied with the last years of Emmanuel Macron’s rule, especially the pension reform approved in mid-2023 in the absence of public consultation.

Thus, between July and August, the CGT, one of the largest unions in the country, has already submitted several strike notices, especially against health workers in hospitals, as well as customs staff, corner workers and even public transport.

According to Patrick Clastres, it was not possible to generate enthusiasm for an event “that will allow us to create connections” for the future and which will allow some 15,000 athletes from around the world to gather in one place.

“Neither the International Olympic Committee, nor the French Olympic Committee, nor the government, nor the President of the Republic knew how to compose a speech that would involve the population. We don’t even understand why France is organizing these Games, nor does the Cabinet of Ministers of the Minister of Sports know. In 2017, Paris was almost the only candidate,” the academician commented.

Natsuko hopes that Paris 2024 will help the French mobilize ahead of the Winter Olympics, which France will organize in 2030.

“I think that people in general do not want to know about these Olympic Games. There is no general joy, no outrage. Complete disinterest. Now they will take place, it is no longer possible to cancel them. What I hope is that at a time when France’s budget deficit is 5.5%, there is more debate about whether or not to hold the 2030 Winter Olympics,” concluded Natsuko.