1,193 Cars Torched On New Year's Eve In France, Part Of Tradition
As part of a French tradition that takes place every New Year's Eve in the country, 1,193 empty, parked cars burned Monday night, according to figures announced by Interior Minister Manuel Vallis on Tuesday.
For the past three years such figures have not been released to the public, in an effort by the conservative government of former President Nicolas Sarkozy to reduce the crime and not give in to "car-torching youths" who try to outdo each other, The Associated Press reported. However, the current Socialist government deemed otherwise and reported on the steady rise in car-torching practices done for the holiday. On Dec. 31, 2009, the last public figure available, 1,147 cars were burned.
The AP noted that car-torching in France is a tradition done to mark the arrival of the new year, a practice that started among youths in the 1990s. It was also used by teens as a method of protest from housing projects that spread across France in 2005. During that time, police counted that 8,810 cars burned in less than three weeks.
The New Year's Eve tradition, however, does not take place in France's major cities like Paris. Valls said the suburban region of Seine-Saint-Denis, where the 2005 fires started, is the prime spot for burning cars followed by the eastern areas around Strasbourg.
An incident that did take place in Paris on New Year's Eve was a grand theft estimated at $1.3 million in electronic goods. Four masked and armed robbers forced their way into the flagship Apple store in central Paris, one of two in the city, and stole iPads, iPhones, Mac laptops and other devices before fleeing the scene in a getaway van parked nearby the store.
At time of publication the thieves have not been arrested and authorities are still investigating details of the robbery.
