We were back in Ansouis market this Sunday. For a year we had a stall under the plane tree in the centre of the small square. It was a peaceful and profitable existence. An old lady from the Mairie came around and collected 2 euros every morning and we then sold several hundred euros worth of pink wine.
This Sunday though we were only customers, but we still chatted to the 10 or so traders who make up the small market and who became good friends in our time there. The conversation was upsetting - many of them are thinking of giving up, June has been a terrible month with scarcely any customers. Then there is the police crack down - at any given time up t0 50% of traders are working without the right papers because they are expensive and time consuming to get. Now the police are kicking paperless traders out of the markets.
The end result is smaller markets with fewer goods that are less of a draw for the tourists.
"It'll be the death of the markets," said one trader.
All this of course has to be taken with a massive pinch of salt, because in our time in the markets we never met a trader who admitted to doing well. In a cash business it doesn't pay to look prosperous in case the tax man calls!
Comments