A gym in Paris’s chic and affluent 15th arrondissement is now closed to the public after the Socialist-led city of Paris requisitioned it as an emergency shelter for over a hundred migrants.
The facility, known as Gymnase Fédération, is in a street of fashionable apartments just west of the Eiffel Tower. It will be closed for at least one month.
Philippe Goujon, the centre-right Les Républicains mayor of the 15th arrondissement, strongly opposes the requisition.
He demands that the city of Paris immediately stops using local sports facilities to house migrants and instead finds alternative solutions.
Goujon particularly criticises closing local sport facilities to house irregular migrants who, he claims, “should not be on French territory”.
The decision has provoked strong reactions from local sports clubs.
The clubs have attacked what they call a lack of transparency and consultation from Paris’s City Hall.
The Eiffel Basket Club, a men’s and women’s basketball team based in the facility, launched a petition which already gathered more than a thousand signatures, calling for sport access to be preserved in the district.
In the 15th arrondissement alone, four gymnasiums are currently requisitioned by the City in rotation throughout the year.
Across Paris, which has elected a series of Socialist mayors since 2001, the city rotates between 20 and 25 gymnasiums, with a large proportion located in right-leaning arrondissements.
The municipal authorities justify this by stating that these districts have the largest sport facilities.
The impact on local sport clubs is significant.
Many have seen a drop in membership, with some members requesting refunds or switching to private sport facilities.
When clubs voice concerns, city officials have often accused them of lacking humanity.
Meanwhile, conditions inside the requisitioned gymnasiums are described as difficult.
Migrants are crowded together with insufficient lavatory facilities, sleeping separated only by makeshift partitions, and using camping stoves on the floor.
Sports clubs emphasise their important social role, in providing physical activity for children, seniors, and people with disabilities, fostering integration and health.
Critics argue sacrificing these activities for short-term solutions is counterproductive.
There is also a financial burden — the 15th arrondissement mayor received a bill of €16,000 from the city of Paris for repairs after previous occupations.
He sent the invoice back.
The 15th arrondissement, a chic and upscale area, is governed by the Right while Paris City Hall is led by the newly elected Socialist mayor Emmanuel Grégoire.
Grégoire has promised to create 4,000 emergency shelter places for the winter of 2026.
