Weekend curfew: Monaco clamps down with tougher border controls

Stéphane Danna

Continuing their fight against Covid-19, the Principality has now increased checks at their border. Over 4,000 checks were made last weekend, resulting in many people being denied entry.

In an effort to regulate the amount of people entering, the Principality has clamped down on their border control. Over the course of last weekend, officers went to extra efforts to prevent an influx in travellers, especially people coming from the Alpes-Maritimes region, which is currently under a weekend lockdown. Increasing border checks, particularly at train stations and on motorways, comes as part of the Princely Government’s commitment to help the French authorities police their local lockdown.

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Almost 70 police officers out in force last weekend

“Controlling access to the Principality is being done to ensure people are respecting the 5km travel rule and going no further than an hour from their home,” explained Pierre Dartout, Minister of State. “Anyone living under lockdown in the Alpes-Maritimes region, over 5km away from the Monégasque border, will be refused entry. The only legal exception to this is residents of very close neighbouring towns may enter the Principality for essential reasons, such as to do food shopping,” added Patrice Cellario, Monaco’s Minister of Interior.

On Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 February, over 70 police offers carried out 4000 controls. Their aim was to ensure travellers had a compelling reason to enter the Principality, and if so, that they could provide a hotel reservation and a negative PCR test, taken within 72 hours. In total, 2500 vehicles were checked with 245 of them being refused entry. Controls were also in place at the train station, where 410 people were questioned and 45 of them were turned away by authorities. It is thought that these checks will once again be in place next weekend.