Despite the threat of a lawsuit, the mayor of Bordeaux refuses to remove his posters against “budget cuts”

It's a real standoff between the mayor of Bordeaux and the prefect of Gironde. Last week, the city's environmentalist mayor, Pierre Hurmic, had two banners installed on the facade of the Rohan Palace, in order to protest against the “budget cuts” of the state. Criticized by his opposition, he refuses to withdraw them, despite a threat from the prefecture to take legal action.

“The State is cutting the municipal budget of Bordeaux by 16.5 million euros, where do we get them?”questions the first banner displayed this week on the building. “Would you prefer to deprive all students of a canteen or eliminate the municipal police? Do you find this absurd? Us too”responds the second by calling out to the residents. The 2025 finance bill (PLF) provides that local authorities will contribute several billion euros to the savings desired by the Barnier government.

Invoking a “principle of neutrality of public services” having “constitutional value”the prefect of Gironde, Étienne Guyot, asked the mayor to “comply as quickly as possible with the law”otherwise “legal action would be taken by the State”. The prefect relies on case law from the Council of State, according to which this principle “is opposed to the affixing of signs on public buildings symbolizing the assertion of political, religious or philosophical opinions”.

“Respect the freedom of expression of elected officials”

But according to the municipal executive, this is not the case. The mayor “made a point of informing the Bordeaux population of the budget cuts which to this day threaten the financing and sustainability of public services”believing that “this information is of obvious local public interest”. “Not content with draining our financial resources to absorb its abysmal deficit, the State now demands our resignation”retorts Pierre Hurmic dryly.

Now its display, the Bordeaux city councilor invites the prefect to “respect the freedom of expression of local elected officials who are increasingly numerous, from all political sides, to mobilize against the impacts of this PLF”. Throughout France, many local authorities have already expressed their concern. This Thursday, several dozen local elected officials, including the mayor of Toulouse Jean-Luc Moudenc (ex-Les Républicains), mobilized in front of the Haute-Garonne prefecture to send a “angry message”.