Many residents of the holiday region fear for their economic existence. \/ Wildfires in southern France<\/p>\n
The unadorned exhibition hall next to the gigantic supermarket in La Teste-de-Buch has become a refuge. 250 camp beds, an improvised coffee bar, children’s toys on red gym mats. This is where Thierry ended up.<\/p>\n
“My whole family is scattered,” he says. His older son was staying with a friend and his mother-in-law was staying with a family in La Teste-de-Buch. “My wife is in a tiny apartment with their young son, two dogs and three cats, and I stayed here.”<\/p>\n
The exhibition hall is the hub, the hub for information. At the reception desk set up by volunteers and community representatives, the same question keeps popping up: when can we go back?<\/p>\n
“The most important thing for our employees is to know when they can go back to work,” explains Olivier de Camp, who runs a restaurant. “Le Petit Nice” is located directly on the beach – on the Plage Pyla sur mer. The restaurant is still standing, the flames have spared it. But the restaurateur has so far tried in vain to get the city’s helpers to set a fixed return date.<\/p>\n