Nude swimmers on the French Riviera join the protests against the King of Saudi Arabia who is building a lift to the beach from his holiday villa
A public beach has been annexed for the duration of the Saudi King's visit
The closure of the beach, for 'security reasons', has outraged locals
More than 100,000 people have signed a petition opposing the closure
By Peter Allen for MailOnline
Published: 10:02 EST, 26 July 2015 | Updated: 13:09 EST, 26 July 2015
Despite the ongoing protests, the authorities have allowed the beach to be shut off because of 'security concerns', according to a spokesman for the local prefecture.
King Salman arrived in a convoy of armoured Mercedes limousines accompanied by motorbike outriders after touching down by private Boeing 747 at nearby Nice airport yesterday.
Genevieve Delemer, another local who has signed the petition, said: 'It's an outrage. You can't just build things like that on a public beach. Who do they think they are?'
The online petition against such luxury excess reads: 'This beach, like any other public maritime domain, should be available for everyone, including residents, tourists, French people and foreigners.'
It calls on the prefecture and France's Socialist government to 'recognise the unanimous wave of indignation' and to reverse its decision to privatise the beach.
Jean-Noel Falcou, who had launched the petition, said: 'We cannot accept that there is one law for the rich and powerful and one law for everyone else'.
Mr Falcou insisted that his demonstration against the Saudis had nothing to do with Islamophobia.
Rich families who have successfully shut off stretches of coastline on the Riviera have including former president Nicolas Sarkozy and his third wife, the former supermodel Carla Bruni.
Francois-Xavier Lauch, of the Alpes-Maritime prefecture, said: 'This closure is consistent with what would happen with a visit by any head of state, whether it was President Francois Hollande or Barack Obama.'
Mr Lauch insisted that the beach was 'only ten meters long' and was usually only visited by a handful of people every day. He said that the visit of the super-rich Saudis would also bring a huge amount of money to the local economy.
The King and his staff and family are staying in Chateau de l'Horizon, a £5million pounds plus mansion once used by Winston Churchill, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and Marilyn Monroe.
Some 1,000 members of the King's entourage are being put up in hotels in nearby resort towns, including Cannes, where luxury hotel rooms can cost upwards of £750 a night.
While demonstrators, including the nude swimmers, tried to get near the King's holiday home, police insisted that this would be impossible. 'Anybody causing a public disturbance, or intruding in what is now considered public space will be arrested,' said a local police source.
Read more:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3175094/Nude-swimmers-French-Riviera-join-protests-against-King-Saudi-Arabia-building-lift-beach-holiday-villa.html#ixzz3h5osu1lH Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
