Every year, the Côte d’Azur welcomes 11 million tourists in search of sun, beaches and sea. With an estimated tourist consumption of more than 4.5 billion euros, local businesses rub their hands at the start of the season. Among the very flourishing businesses, that of private beaches. 750 million euros is the turnover achieved each year by the 800 or so beach restaurants. A profitable business for beachgoers on the Côte d’Azur. We will discover how these very popular establishments operate. Problem, new environmental regulations threaten their profitability. What consequences at the individual but also local level. Indeed, thanks to them, an entire economy is running at full speed during the summer break. Real estate, for its part, has nothing to envy of sectors directly linked to the beach and the sea. Prices can reach astronomical amounts, as in Saint-Tropez where a house sold for more than 30,000 euros per square meter. The few rare plots of land that are still available and well located are of course highly coveted. And even if many are officially unbuildable, unscrupulous developers are making arrangements with certain elected officials to circumvent the very strict regulations on urban planning. We will see how this works.
