Residents of Cannes' Résidence des Cyprès, in the La Bocca district, have launched a petition over a rat infestation they say has plagued the social housing complex since 2024, according to France 3 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.
Tenants say they have contacted their social landlord dozens of times over the infestation without seeing meaningful action, prompting the decision to formalise their complaints through a petition. Cannes' town hall has said it will respond to the residents' concerns, though no timeline for action has yet been given.
Urban rat populations have become a growing public health concern across France in recent years. France's National Academy of Medicine issued a formal warning on the risks in 2022, and the health ministry has reported that cases of leptospirosis, a bacterial infection spread through rat urine, have roughly doubled nationally since 2014, now running at 600 to 700 confirmed cases a year. The disease can prove fatal in 5 to 10 percent of untreated cases, and public health authorities have flagged dense, older housing stock, waste collection points and sewer networks as key sites of exposure. Southern France's warmer climate is considered particularly favourable to rodent breeding cycles.