Christian Estrosi, the mayor of Nice, has prohibited cruise ships carrying over 900 passengers from disembarking for excursions in the city. He favors smaller, luxury ships instead. While local businesses and the cruise industry oppose the move due to economic implications, environmentalists support it, citing pollution and overcrowding issues. Estrosi plans to propose a compromise to the port authority, suggesting a limit of one large cruise ship at a time in the nearby Villefranche-sur-mer bay and allowing smaller vessels into Nice's port. This decision follows a meeting with environmentalist Paul Watson.
"Pleasure boating, yes, floating buildings, no," Estrosi said at the time.
"The Mediterranean isn't a trash bin and our coast shouldn't be sacrificed to satisfy the economic interests of a few," local environmentalists said in a statement.
The plan would see 65 cruise ships carrying up to 2,500 passengers allowed into the nearby bay of Villefranche-sur-mer, but never more than one at a time.
Estrosi will submit on March 7 to the port authority a plan that seeks to find a compromise between "public health interests and supporting the local economy".
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