The French burn fewer cars on New Year’s Eve due to the pandemic Coronavirus pandemic News

The much-lamented tradition was in decline this year, with only 874 vehicles burned.

Hundreds of empty and parked cars are lit in France every night on New Year’s Eve, set on fire by young party-goers, a much-lamented tradition that has plummeted this year, burning only 874 vehicles.

The number of cars burned overnight has dropped compared to New Year’s Eve 2019, when 1,316 vehicles were on fire, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin tweeted on Saturday.

There have been fewer fire attacks on New Year’s Eve due to a heavy police presence on city streets as an infection caused by law and order and restrictions on public gatherings and the wearing of face masks. rapidly expanding Omicron the rise of the variant, he said.

There is no information on the cars burned last year due to the national blockade of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

As in many countries, France sets cars on fire throughout the year for a variety of reasons, including groups that hide traces of their crimes and people who make false insurance claims.

But the auto-rocket took a new step in France when it became a way to signal the arrival of the New Year. The practice began in earnest among young people, often in poor neighborhoods, in the 1990s in the Strasbourg region of eastern France.

In the autumn of 2005, young people desperate for housing projects across France also became the voice of protest.

At the time, police had burned 8,810 vehicles in less than three weeks.