G20 in Cannes = Good Time to Stay Away

November’s prestigious G20 Summit in Cannes will bring together the most powerful leaders on the planet:  Barack Obama, Angela Merkel, Dmitri Medvedev, etc., …along with a few uninvited guests: the 15,000 anti-capitalist protesters that will be flooding in from all over Europe.

From the ultra-security measures needed for the Heads of State, to the anti-capitalist protests that could easily turn into full-blown riots, here’s what to expect November 1-4:

Airport:  With Barack Obama arriving with Air Force 1 and his 800-person entourage in three other jets, plus the security for all the other Heads of State,  (25 Boeing 747′s and 6 Airbus A380′s will be on the tarmac), it is advised to avoid the Nice Airport during this period (especially Nov 1-2 and 4-5).

Cannes:  From the voie rapide to the seaside, Cannes will be cordoned off and only accessible to badged residents, and even then, no cars at all on the Croisette.  Boats in an out of the Bay of Cannes will be controlled, and there will be aerial spy cameras held aloft with balloons, and for threats from below, most of the 4000 manhole covers will be soldered shut.

Nice:  You will all be so pleased to hear that with downtown Cannes cordoned off, the protests will be focused around Nice!  The anti-G20 groups are busy looking for gymnasiums to house the influx of 15,000 international backpacking anarchists, while the city is enlisting 300 police to guard the Italian border that week to try to keep them out (…which worked so well with the Tunisian refugees!)

Protesters at the 2000 Nice Summit

The real fun should start on Nov. 1 at 3pm  in front of the Palais des Expositions, with a massive protest march followed by concerts and a ‘fiesta’.  But members of the Black Bloc, a violent international extremest group who are all about destroying capitalist symbols (tip: avoid McDo), will probably quickly turn the ‘fiesta’ into ‘flaming fiasco’,  judging by the the 2000 Summit in Nice or the 2009 summer riots that filled avenue Jean Medicin with tear gas, broken glass, and panicked tourists barricaded in Galleries Lafayette.  As a precaution… gas stations around the protest areas will be closed, and local hospitals are not scheduling unnecessary surgery that week to be ready for any potential influx.

Monaco:  The ultimate symbol of capitalism will get its turn on November 3rd, when another massive protest is scheduled for Cap d’Ail, on Monaco’s doorstep.

So batten down the hatches… and time to book that long-deserved vacation to anywhere but the Cote d’Azur!

Nice-Matin: Dans les coulisses du G20 de Cannes 

Photo credits: Nice Summit by Patrice Lapoirie, courtesy of Nice-Matin.  2009 G8 Summit from Wikipedia, licensed under Creative Commons

See related posts:  

• G-Day for Nice? Anti G20 Protests take Center Stage 
• Anti-G20 Protests in Nice: so far so good
• Presidential Caprices at the G20 Summit in Cannes  
• Cannes under the spell of the G20
• Obama Steals the G20 Show
• Cannes Kebab Vendor Saves President Obama