Anti-XXL cruise order suspended: Ciotti mocks Estrosi, who appeals to the State

The interim relief judge of the Nice administrative court suspended, this Sunday, July 13, 2025, the execution of the order of the President of the Nice-Côte d'Azur Metropolis issuing, as of July 11, measures prohibiting and limiting the mooring, embarkation and disembarkation of cruise ship passengers in Nice and Villefranche-sur-Mer.

For the justice system, Christian Estrosi is not "competent" to impose such rules: "only the prefect [can]" .

The Metropolis asks the State to act quickly or will attack

"The Nice Côte d'Azur Metropolitan Area acknowledges" the court decision, responded the authority chaired by Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi. "Christian Estrosi, President of the Metropolitan Area, reiterates that this decree had no other purpose than to protect the health of residents, respond to the environmental emergency, and preserve the local quality of life in the face of the uncontrolled growth of cruise ship stopovers."

And since only the prefect can act, the Metropolis "will not be satisfied with the silence of the State. It solemnly calls on the latter to cease being solely in a position of reaction to the desire to act of local authorities and to fully assume its responsibilities. Regulating flows, limiting the ecological impact of stopovers, protecting populations and ecosystems: this is the meaning of the public responsibility that the State must now exercise. If no administrative police measures are enacted within a reasonable timeframe to prevent the harmful effects – scientifically established – of mega-cruises on human health, the preservation of the environment and the fight against overtourism, the Metropolis will hold the State liable before the administrative judge for culpable failure to act."

"Drift" or "buzz for the sake of buzz," denounces Eric Ciotti

For his part, the UDR MP Eric Ciotti, Christian Estrosi's rival and likely candidate in the March 2026 municipal elections in Nice, did not fail to mock his enemy. "The administrative court's decision left no room for doubt: this decree had no legal basis. Should we see this as a further demonstration of the incompetence of an elected official adrift, or simply a frantic quest for buzz for the sake of buzz? Probably a bit of both," wrote the MP for the 1st constituency of the Alpes-Maritimes, which includes the Nice port district, on X.