Cagnes-sur-Mer mayor Bryan Masson says he personally faces a fine of up to 1,500 euros after the préfecture threatened enforcement action over the town's beach showers, in a dispute he says was imposed on the commune without proper consultation.
Writing on Facebook on August 18, Masson said the town had kept its beach showers running despite the commune's "crisis" level drought status, arguing the push-button fixtures limit water use and support hygiene along the shoreline during peak summer season. "I want Cagnois residents to know the truth: I did not want to close our beach showers. This decision has been imposed on us by the Alpes-Maritimes préfet," he wrote, adding that the town "will not politically own a decision it neither took nor wanted."
Masson called for the préfet to convene the affected communes for a proper discussion on drought measures going forward, rather than issuing decisions with direct consequences for local authorities without consultation. The dispute echoes a similar standoff BCN reported last month, when Antibes mayor Jean Leonetti kept his own town's beach showers open on hygiene grounds despite a préfectoral order to close them.