Marseille is grappling with a surge in fighting and pickpocketing on local beaches, which are overcrowded because the coronavirus pandemic has forced many residents to cancel holidays elsewhere. The rowdy Mediterranean port city is notorious for gang wars, street violence and drugs trafficking, an image that tends to put off tourists. But this year its beaches are packed with locals as many youths from its deprived, crime-ridden, northern suburbs hang around the beach front unable to go on their usual holidays to North Africa, and the numbers of French tourists have increased because of the difficulties of travelling abroad. Suzanne and Françoise, two Marseille students, said their mobiles had been stolen from their bags in the Vallon des Auffes fishing harbour, a popular spot for sunbathing and swimming, where restaurant terraces attract night-time crowds. "We didn’t notice that local people had put up notices warning that pickpockets were in the area,” Suzanne said.

Source: The North Africa Journal August 02, 2020 14:54 UTC