In the middle of Paris’s third Covid lockdown last March, a hashtag appeared on Twitter with a photo of a lock on the Canal Saint-Martin that runs through the north of the city clogged with litter, plastic bags and bottles.
Images of Paris looking worse for wear are nothing new but, within days, dozens of pictures of overflowing bins, broken pavements and graffiti-covered walls appeared with the same hashtag – #SaccageParis – which roughly translates as Trashed Paris.
… City Hall maintains that the movement can be traced back to supporters of the far right and is orchestrated by Hidalgo haters. Like the rubbish on the streets, it is easy to see why, when a social media post about the state of Paris often sparks virulent, sometimes defamatory, attacks on the mayor.
