French city shuts down public pools after two women wear burkinis

Agence France-Presse in Grenoble
Thu 27 Jun 2019 17.00 BST
Last modified on Thu 27 Jun 2019 21.45 BST



Despite the unprecedented heatwave sweeping across western Europe, lifeguards in Grenoble have shut down the city’s two municipal swimming pools after Muslim women went swimming in burkinis.

The women went to the pools twice at the initiative of the Alliance Citoyenne rights group to challenge a city ban on the full-body swimwear.

According to a statement from the town hall, the lifeguards at the pools asked for the shutdown because “they are there to maintain safety and they can’t do that when they have to worry about the crowds”. It added: “We are working towards a positive solution.”

The incident marks the latest in row over face- and body-covering garments worn by Muslim women in a country with strict laws on secularism.

France – which has Europe’s largest Muslim population – was the first European country to ban the full veil in public spaces in 2011.

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