The town hall of Toulouges, near Perpignan, goes to war against the establishment of a McDonald’s in its town

Will a seventeenth McDonald's restaurant be set up in the Pyrénées-Orientales? Not so sure. Near Perpignan, the town of Toulouges, decided to say “no” to the American giant’s project which included the opening of a fast-food restaurant near its municipal stadium. The location would be ideal for the chain. But not for the city councilor and the elected officials of the municipal council. On March 20, representatives of McDonald's came to present the project to municipal councilors. This does not seem to have convinced them.

A few days later, during the ordinary session of Friday March 29, 2024 which was to deal with the budget, the municipal council expressed its firm opposition to the project and a motion of censure was adopted unanimously. The elected officials justify their decision by “the harmful impact on the environment with the increase in waste production along roads, cycle paths and in parks”, “the olfactory, sound, visual and atmospheric nuisances with a increased traffic flow near the parking lot and the drive-thru” and the “municipal policy committed to the protection of local shops and “eating well””.

It must be said that within a seven-minute drive from the town of 6,500 inhabitants, no less than four McDonald's are already established: in Thuir, Saint-Charles, Auchan and Porte d'Espagne. For Mayor Nicolas Barthe “this motion, if it is more symbolic than prohibitive, is a warning to mark our opposition. We studied the McDonald's project carefully, we received them and listened to them. We hope that they will also respect our decision,” he explained to France 3 Régions.

The municipal council also informs the municipal population that it does not intend to stop there. In a press release, the town hall states that it is “studying all useful and necessary legal means motivating the refusal to establish the fast food brand in its territory”.

Nicolas Barthe, sensitive to the subject, calls on the department to be more vigilant: “We believe it is necessary to remember that the Pyrénées-Orientales department has one of the highest rates of fast food per capita in the country.” With 16 McDonald's, or 3.3 per 100,000 inhabitants, the Pyrénées-Orientales is indeed one of the French departments with the most restaurants of this type, just after Paris and Haute-Garonne. In the 66, the number of fast food restaurants has also jumped in recent years. 1,400 brands have been identified in 2022 for only 1,000 traditional cuisine restaurants.

Beyond the commercial phenomenon, this craze for junk food risks turning into a public health problem. Joan Nou of the citizen movement “Agissons 66” denounced the situation to our colleagues. “In terms of obesity, in the department, we are 5% above the national average and 1% more in terms of diabetes. We have the same number of McDonald's in Perpignan as in Bordeaux, a city with double the population,” he emphasizes. In the Pyrénées-Orientales, 20% of the population suffers from obesity: this is 5 points more than the national average. It remains to be seen whether Toulouges or McDonalds will win the battle.