A carnival under very high security: police officers, gendarmes, CRS, and RAID units are mobilized.
Despite this significant security setup, inspected before the inauguration, the 2017 Carnival started with the handbrake on during the first parades.
The Tourist Office organizing it reports 7,000 attendees compared to 9,000 in previous years.
Is the fear of attacks still present?
The route avoids the Promenade des Anglais to circumvent the Paillon, and it doesn’t have the same charm. The gardens separating the two sections of the circuit give an impression of emptiness inside.
Moreover, the presence of so many armed police and snipers perched on rooftops, along with security gates, gives the event an atmosphere not conducive to having fun.
Currently, total reservations are down by 20% compared to the 2016 edition, which recorded 240,000 paid entries out of a total of 600,000 visitors during the two-week carnival.
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