Angry taxis intend to continue the siege of the city of Pau

But a police cordon was firmly awaiting them there, so the convoy of about fifty taxis continued on to Bétharram, to symbolically park in front of the private Catholic school at the heart of a physical and sexual violence scandal that has also tarnished the head of state. The objective is clear: to attract François Bayrou's attention and encourage him to receive a delegation.

On Monday, a meeting with the prefectural services did not have the desired effect: the latter limited themselves to defending the text promulgated on Friday, May 16 in the Official Journal. "This agreement provides for strengthening the rules of the agreement to adapt to the real transport needs in the territory [...] The new model creates an accompanying package because in this case it is not a question of commercial trips but of accompanying a vulnerable public to which is added a revalued mileage rate," communicated the prefecture at the end of the meeting.

"We are peaceful"

This was an inaudible statement for the protesters, just as they deny the violence that the prefecture attributed to them against the police on Monday. "The police were targeted and stoned by some participants in front of the Pau train station," the prefecture assured. "This is completely false," refuted a union official. "They are trying to discredit our movement."

Patricia, Nicolas, and Nelly, three taxi drivers from Toulouse who participated in the attempted blockade of the station on Monday, were also very surprised by these accusations. "We weren't going to break anything; we're peaceful. We simply wanted to delay the trains. Although perhaps we should have pushed them to make sure they were on time! But as far as we know, no one threw stones at the police."

On Tuesday evening, the prefecture persisted and signed: "On several occasions, the demonstrators placed tires on the roads or railway tracks, which they set alight, and were pushed back following the invasion of the railway station platforms. The police forces received projectiles and had to resort to the use of tear gas; 135 police officers are mobilized day and night to maintain order."

He continued: "Today, Tuesday, May 20, 2025, a TGV train traveling toward Tarbes struck more tire depots. Fortunately, this incident had no impact on the condition of the passengers. Regardless of the protesters' demands, the prefect strongly condemns attacks on law enforcement and damage to public property."

Far from these antagonistic considerations, one of the protesters, who spent an uncomfortable night in his taxi between Monday and Tuesday, had the impression on Tuesday that "operations are happening on a piecemeal basis," without much coherence. No matter, he plans to stay, "as long as the movement is not over. Taxi is a wonderful profession that is regularly destroyed. I can't understand the actions of our government, which seems to want to prevent us from creating wealth. I fear above all that access to healthcare, for many people, will become a misery."