{"id":26247,"date":"2023-11-05T06:39:29","date_gmt":"2023-11-05T06:39:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/berkshiredoulas.com\/?p=26247"},"modified":"2023-11-05T06:39:29","modified_gmt":"2023-11-05T06:39:29","slug":"the-european-town-where-the-mayor-tried-to-make-dying-illegal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/berkshiredoulas.com\/world-news\/the-european-town-where-the-mayor-tried-to-make-dying-illegal\/","title":{"rendered":"The European town where the mayor tried to make dying illegal"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The mayor of a French town\u00a0decided to approve legislation barring people from dying as a last-ditch attempt to solve an issue related to burial spaces.<\/p>\n

Philippe Gu\u00e9rin was the mayor of Cugnaux, a town with around 20,000 residents located near Toulouse in south-western France, between 2001 and 2014.<\/p>\n

During his mandate, the mayor wanted to solve the issue of the local cemetery running out of space by building a new burial ground on unused land attached to a local airfield.<\/p>\n

But he claimed he could not get the decision approved by the local authority, despite the prefecture green-lighting the building of a supermarket in the same area.<\/p>\n

Mr Gu\u00e9rin claimed his attempts to get in touch with the prefect and the interior ministry were unsuccessful.<\/p>\n

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Acknowledging his frustration, he said years later in an interview to the Guardian: “So we were a bit frustrated and we said, ‘OK, because it is absolutely stupid to authorise a supermarket but not a graveyard, we have to stop people dying’.”<\/p>\n

More specifically, the legislature approved in November 2007 in Cugnaux prohibited any person who didn’t have a burial space already allocated in the existing cemetery from dying on the territory of the town.<\/p>\n

Those found in breach of this measure, the legislature added, would be “severely punished”.<\/p>\n

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French news outlet La Depeche reported Mr Gu\u00e9rin commenting at the time on his own legislation saying that “an absurd situation [required] an absurd response”.<\/p>\n

Around the time the rule was approved by the city council, the French town only had a few dozen burial spaces left but was in need of many more, as Mr Gu\u00e9rin said Cugnaux reported an average of 60 deaths per year.<\/p>\n

The real goal of the legislature – which was declared illegal soon after its approval – was naturally not to try and prevent deaths but simply to put the spotlight on the town and its pressing issue.<\/p>\n