Following Aliot's announcement on Monday, the police prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department filed a motion with local courts to block the move.
The decision of the Perpignan mayor, a member of far-right National Rally (RN) party, was slammed by Christophe Castaner, lower house leader of the ruling LaREM party, who denounced it as a populist move.
"Louis Aliot wants us to believe that the RN is defending culture by opening museums in defiance of health regulations," Castaner said on Twitter. "But behind this communications exercise, nobody is fooled by the populism of the RN. Culture knows how to protect itself from the extremist virus."
A #Perpignan, @louis_aliot veut nous faire croire que le Rassemblement National défend la culture en ouvrant des musées au mépris des règles sanitaires.
— Christophe Castaner (@CCastaner) February 8, 2021
Mais derrière l'opération de com’, personne n’est dupe du populisme du RN.
La culture saura se protéger du virus extrémiste. pic.twitter.com/a8d9WSo3iK
Aliot justified his decision by saying: "Culture is essential to the people of Perpignan, as well as all French people. It is high time to reopen cultural venues. Some people just say it – we have done it," he said.
He said that the four museums would open "in compliance with the necessary sanitary rules", allowing for a distance of 10m2 between people.
Dans son programme d’actions pour soutenir le monde culturel, la Ville rouvre ses 4 musées en respectant un protocole sanitaire très strict.
— Ville de Perpignan (@MairiePerpignan) February 8, 2021
QUOI DE NEUF ⁉️
Du 9️⃣ fév. au 9️⃣ mars, entrées GRATUITES dans les musées, de 1️⃣1️⃣h à 1️⃣7️⃣h.
Plus d’infos sur https://t.co/NUhXPG4Dne pic.twitter.com/yic2cbt7zN
The four museums are the Rigaud Museum (fine arts), with an exhibition on the "Queens of France", the Casa Pairal (history of Perpignan and Roussillon), the Puig Museum (medals) and the Natural History Museum.
On Monday, Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot said that museums and monuments would be the first to reopen "when there is a drop in Covid numbers".
After discussions with around thirty managers of museums, art centres, public and private monuments, Bachelot said they were ready to put tighter health measures in place, such as increased social distancing, to be able to reopen as soon as possible.
