The manager of a leisure park in southern France has been detained after allegedly refusing entry to a group of Israeli children, prosecutors said.
The incident took place on Thursday at the Tyrovol zipline adventure park in Porté-Puymorens, a village in the Pyrenees near the Spanish border. The children, aged eight to 16, were visiting from Spain and had made a prior reservation, according to the Perpignan prosecutor’s office.
Prosecutors said the park manager initially told some people that the group was being turned away because of his “personal beliefs,” though he gave different explanations to others. The park later posted a message on social media saying it would close Thursday due to a storm in order to carry out a “complete inspection of the facilities.”
The group was ultimately denied entry and went instead to another leisure site in France without issue. The manager has denied any wrongdoing.
Jewish community leaders strongly condemned the incident. “A line was crossed. We are appalled,” said Perla Danan, president of the Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. She compared the refusal to signs from the Holocaust era that read, “no Jews or dogs allowed.”
The Jewish Observatory of France also issued a statement expressing “deep outrage,” saying the act targeted minors based on their nationality and origin, and “undermines the fundamental principles of the republic.”
Jean-Philippe Augé, mayor of Porté-Puymorens, which has about 100 residents, said the village was in “utter astonishment” over the incident. “The DNA of our community is based on a sense of sharing and fraternity,” he said.
What French law say
French law punishes discrimination based on religion with up to three years in prison.
The case comes amid heightened concern over antisemitism in France. Reports of antisemitic incidents rose sharply in 2023 following the October 7 Hamas attacks in Israel and the war in Gaza. President Emmanuel Macron earlier this month vowed accountability after an olive tree planted in memory of a young French Jewish man murdered in 2006 was cut down in an act described as “antisemitic hatred.”
