“Stay at home” is the Federal Council’s appeal. In the Jura hills, the police almost only counted German-Swiss license plates – to the displeasure of the local population, who was disciplined.
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Very well attended on weekends, but practically only by German-speaking Swiss: The Etang de la Gruère in the Canton of Jura.
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The Federal Council’s appeal was heard on all channels. In view of the corona pandemic, every press conference, every interview and even for days before the SRF radio news always said: “Stay at home.” The appeal also applied to the past, extremely sunny weekend. As the cantonal police announced, it became majority followed. But the picture is bleak – in some cantons in western Switzerland there is great resentment: “The German-Swiss obviously didn’t understand everyone,” says Neuchâtel security chief Alain Ribaux.
The canton has identified two hotspots that have become a problem at the weekend: the Creux du Van natural arena on the border with the Vaud and the Gorges de l’Areuse with their enchanted paths. The police made surveys of the access roads. Ribaux says that 80 percent of the cars had number plates outside of the canton, the vast majority of them from German-speaking Switzerland. The tourists sometimes even came from relatively far away parts of the country such as St. Gallen or Ticino.
The problem is, on the one hand, that in the Areuse Gorge – on whose narrow nature paths passers-by constantly crossed – the distance rules could simply not be adhered to. But it is also about the coherence of the official message. According to the FDP State Council, it is difficult for the FDP State Council to require its own population to go for a walk in the vicinity of their home, while other people drive two hours to reach a destination. The rush from German-speaking Switzerland was “not at all well received”, especially among the citizens of Val-de-Travers, who had behaved in a disciplined manner.
Not a single domestic license plate
It doesn’t sound much different in the Canton of Jura – it too is blessed with abundant natural beauties, which now become a curse in the short term. Interior Minister Nathalie Barthoulot told RTS that sensitive issues such as the Etang de la Gruère had been seized by day trippers. Also there: “not a single Jurassic license plate” was registered in the parking lots, but almost exclusively German-speaking Swiss cars.
Are Romands – contrary to a cliché that has been cultivated for decades – basically more disciplined than Swiss German? Barthoulot doesn’t believe in it. On request, the SP state councilor emphasized several times that she had “nothing at all against German-speaking Switzerland”. Apparently there are simply different opinions about “exactly what the official recommendations mean”. The Jura population is already more sensitive due to its geographical proximity to the badly hit Alsace. The Neuchâtel State Councilor Ribaux also suspects that the Romands are “a few days ahead” of the German-speaking Swiss in perceiving the danger. In fact, the number of cases per capita in western Switzerland is sometimes significantly higher than that of the Rösti ditch.
Federal Council to adjust communication
French-speaking Switzerland is of course not the only part of the country that attracts German-speaking Swiss in droves – Ticino has always had a special position. And because many people traditionally spend the Easter weekend in the “sun room of Switzerland”, the authorities – up to the Federal Council – have been repeating for days, please do not travel south this year. The cantons of western Switzerland would like the federal government to include their part of the country in their communications.
In Neuchâtel, however, you do not just want to put your fist in a sack, but to put a stop to the rush for excursionists. Head of security Ribaux says that the canton will “probably block” the excursion destinations of the Creux du Van and the Gorges de l’Areuse on Easter weekend for leisure traffic – which is certainly due to its competence even in times of the emergency regime. The formal decision will be made in the coming days and will then be communicated via various channels, especially social media.
In the Jura it is also announced that the mystical moor landscape of the Etang de la Gruère will be spared by tourists this weekend. The government dealt with the agenda on Wednesday, but the decision is becoming clear, says State Councilor Barthoulot – and emphasizes in the same breath: «We welcome our German-Swiss citizens with open arms. Right now, it’s just not the right time for it. »
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