Dover

[Perpipal]

My daughter and family were stuck in the Dover traffic, gave up and returned home. They were due to spend some time driving to a camp site in Bordeaux then on to stay with me here in Perpignan. They have certainly changed their views on France and the French. Tweets and suggestions in the UK press claim that this is a direct action to Brexit. Could this be true? Does anybody else on this site share this view? Through such action the French have denied themselves of much Brit tourist cash. Will the nature of the French have a further impact on the existing dwindling economy and indeed the Eurozone as a whole? Mr Hollande is here in Perpignan on the 28th of this month, maybe I'll ask him, if he accepts my question.
Just Thinking
Perpipal

[Kate]

There is no doubt that tourism is down in the region (and no doubt France in general) but I think that is as much down to terrorism as Brexit.

Personally I havent come across any action or unpleasantness - but I deal mostly with people who depend on tourism and/or are very much 'anglophile' in the first place.

My own French friends and family havent seen it as a big deal either way - a bit of teasing at first, then forgotten.

[Gus Morris]

I understand the weekend just gone marked the start of the school holidays in England. So heavy cross channel traffic was to be expected. Dover has always been a potential bottleneck and we've seen photos of long queues before. Increased security added to the problem. Let's face it we've had big tailbacks at the border crossing at Le Boulou!

Once they got to Calais any motorists taking the autoroutes risked waits at the peage. So, all in all, a time to be avoided. Which all leads to the obvious question. Did peripals family really need to cross last weekend or could they have come mid-week?

Gus

[SteveB]

Hmm. Though I understand your frustration, I can't help thinking you're jumping to conclusions by assuming the problems at Dover are down to "the nature of the French". A lot of British people seem to have an animosity towards the French, which I've never understood, as I've always found most people friendly and helpful in my many visits to the country. This is particularly true of PO (which admittedly may not be typical of France as it's really Catalonia), but I've also found it true in other parts of France.

[martyn94]

My daughter and family were stuck in the Dover traffic, gave up and returned home. They were due to spend some time driving to a camp site in Bordeaux then on to stay with me here in Perpignan. They have certainly changed their views on France and the French. Tweets and suggestions in the UK press claim that this is a direct action to Brexit. Could this be true? Does anybody else on this site share this view? Through such action the French have denied themselves of much Brit tourist cash. Will the nature of the French have a further impact on the existing dwindling economy and indeed the Eurozone as a whole? Mr Hollande is here in Perpignan on the 28th of this month, maybe I'll ask him, if he accepts my question.
Just Thinking
Perpipal

No, is the short answer. France has been the victim of a string of mass killings: the government is under immense pressure over the various respects in which it is alleged to have been lax. Their security forces, of all sorts, are under immense strain. The physical infrastructure at borders is under strain at this time of year even under the best circumstances: if border personnel have to do the checks that they always could have done, but usually used to skip, it is bound to collapse, as many of us must have found, in many places, post 9/11.

No doubt there was also an element of cock-up (always more plausible to me than conspiracy). The idea that this was revenge for Brexit seems Britocentric to the point of paranoia: they have many more things to worry about than damaging their own tourist industry.

But, as you say, just thinking.