A Traveler camp is blocked in Portet-sur-Garonne (Haute-Garonne) after a high voltage cable fell. The families find themselves trapped by concrete blocks… replaced by a neighboring company, to secure the area, while awaiting the intervention of Enedis.
Around thirty traveler caravans set up a week ago on the grounds of the Stradal company, avenue Palarin in Portet-sur-Garonne (Haute-Garonne), southwest of Toulouse. “We were afraid of the storm during the night like many French people. And during the night, we noticed that a high voltage cable had fallen on the side of the road where we are parked, at the back,” says Sophie, spokesperson for the camp.
“We’re trapped!”
“A security perimeter was set up, closing this access route to the camp, with concrete blocks and a container. As a result, they barricaded us. We can no longer enter or leave” resumes Sophie’s strangled voice… When these families, around sixty people, illegally pitched their caravans on this land, “We passed through a field, but since then, with the rain it has been completely bogged down, we can no longer venture there. Also this week, the men worked to create access via this road which is now blocked.”
“We are trapped! There are sick people with us. Including a person with a heart condition. How do we get out? No emergency exit! We are under stress. People have to go to their workplace. Our children are in school, and with the storm and the mired field, they were not able to go.”
No complacency underlines Thierry Suaud, the mayor, “the blocks were there”
Annoyed “by this victimization”, Thierry Suaud, the mayor of Portet-sur-Garonne, certainly is. “I do not believe the assertions of these people. I am stunned by these comments because it is still a question of an illegal intrusion. They passed through a field and they found themselves blocked by the mud. But if I believe the Google Map images from August 2025, there were already anti-intrusion blocks on this side of Palarin”, he specifies, “so why would these people have bothered to pass through the field if these blocks had not already been there? Respect for rights and duties is the same for everyone. If there is an emergency, we call the firefighters! If we have to go to work or to school, we have been subjected to too much disrespectful behavior for some time,” he adds.
However, the municipality of Portet-sur-Garonne is closely monitoring the situation in this camp. And to specify this Friday. There were indeed power lines that fell with the wind. The neighboring company Libaud found itself technically unemployed without electricity. On the advice of Enedis, plots were temporarily replaced by the same company to secure the area. But there is also an alternative exit route, through another business nearby.
Caravans expelled six times since mid-November 2025
Since mid-November 2025, these families have been evicted six times in this southern sector of the Toulouse region. “We are exhausted by this situation. No, we did not have authorization but we are forced to choose places like this because there are not enough reception areas or family places for us around Toulouse. Our way of life, which has always existed, has become unbearable”, Sophie in turn mocks.
date: 2026-02-13 18:00:00
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