“I’m closing the store now, the downpour that just fell has cleaned the street!” : gloomy outlook for traders in the center of Carcassonne, on the eve of Christmas Eve

“It won’t be the same Christmas Magic that we experienced in previous years, because there we took on water!”. Official photographer of Santa Claus on Place Carnot in Carcassonne, Gilbert Banegas was already under no illusions on the eve of this Sunday, December 22, about the results to come for this 2024 edition of the Magic of Christmas in Carcassonne… At look at the most gloomy and deplorable weather since the launch of the festivities on Wednesday, December 4: “It’s obvious that there will be a loss of turnover, but it’s no one’s fault!” So magical or tragic Christmas, for traders in downtown Carcassonne?

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Christmas parade, DJ, ice rink… in the rain the Magic of Christmas tries to punctuate the weekend of Carcassonne residents

This Sunday at the start of the afternoon, while a heavy downpour fell again on the Aude prefecture, it was towards the traders in the heart of the Bastide Saint-Louis that our questions were directed on this eve of the Christmas Eve… At the origin of the creation of the Bastide merchants' association (ACB), in the same way as Céline Sanchez from the Secret d'Or jewelry store, or even Julie Besancenot from the grocery store fine La Ferme, Sylvie Ferrisi, from the furniture and decoration store Muy Mucho does not hide her disappointment during this crucial end-of-year holiday period, when this is where the bulk of the turnover is made: “There, with the downpour that has just fallen (14 h 30, Ndlr)the street has been cleaned up, there is no one left! I'm going to close the store, it costs too much in terms of staff and electricity. We will reopen tomorrow (Monday December 23). It's a disaster! The weather really ruined everything, even though the city is very beautiful with its illuminations…”

In terms of activity, this merchant from rue Georges Clemenceau can only note that “the objectives have not been achieved. For everyone, we are a long way off! Today, we see that people are more looking for small gifts…”

At the Secret d'Or jewelry store, Céline Sanchez makes the same observation more or less this Christmas period, “where the current situation is not good”even if she says to herself “very happy with the activities carried out by the City this year”. However, she knows very well that “People don't go down to town as soon as it rains. The center is complicated! Afterwards, it moves a little, it depends on the shops. We have tourists… Anyway, we don't is not about a Christmas that will go down in history”.