Exception to the rule: open-air Riviera shopping centres open back up

After being forced to close their doors at the end of February, the Polygone Riviera and Nice Valley shopping centres opened up again on Tuesday. In Monaco, shopping centres have been open throughout the whole of the health crisis.

On Friday 23 February, the shutters came down and the tills closed as all shopping centres over 5000m2 in size were told they could no longer legally open. Now though, Polygone Riviera in Cagnes-sur-Mer and Nice Valley in Western Nice have both taken the decision to open back up to the public.

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Polygone Riviera claims that after reading the new guidelines “the law only states that enclosed shopping centres have to shut, whereas open-aired ones are allowed to open.” As a result, this shopping centre will open its doors “from Monday to Friday, 9am-6pm”. It was this same exception to the rule that allowed them to remain open last January too.

Open-air shopping centres

During a press conference, Bernard Gonzales, a representative of the Alpes-Maritimes region, supported the business’ decision. He declared that the Polygone Riviera is indeed classed as an “open-air shopping centre, and these were not affected by the new rules.” However, he went on to warn that “the situation could change at any time” and that he “must enforce the law”. As it stands, all shops inside the centre are now open, with the exception of two, as they exceed the 5000m2 allowance: Primark and Printemps. Restaurants also remain closed and may only offer a take-away service.

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Another shopping centre, Nice Valley has also made the same move and decided to open on Tuesday. Almost all shops are serving customers, but there are limits in place on the amount of people allowed into each store at once.