The march

On Saturday 10 October, opponents of the A69 gathered near Cambounet-sur-le-Sor in the Tarn. The prefecture counted almost a thousand participants at midday, while the organisers put the figure at 1,500. The procession set off in the early afternoon behind a banner reading 'Brûlons l'A69 pas la forêt' and advanced calmly. It stopped shortly after 16:00, about 150 metres from the motorway, and faced the police without incident to the sound of a batucada. Protesters also built a symbolic wall of breeze blocks on a departmental road.

Security and camp

More than 800 gendarmes and police were deployed to supervise the march, according to the prefecture of the Tarn. On Friday the prefect had said that organisers expected between 1,000 and 1,500 people, a figure he described as plausible. The opponents have camped on a farmland site since Thursday afternoon, about one kilometre from the route. By midday on Saturday the parking area held more than 200 vehicles. A large blue marquee stands among tents and stalls, topped by a banner reading 'Brûle NGE, ni A69, ni LGV, ZAD partout'.

Opening and tolls

The concessionaire Atosca announced on Friday evening that the 53-kilometre motorway between Castres and Toulouse would enter service during the first week of November. Opponents say a return trip would cost about 20 euros per vehicle. Thomas Brail, spokesman for the Groupe national de surveillance des arbres (GNSA), called for a boycott of the road.

There is still a fight to be waged. We call for a boycott of this motorway, and in any case that will happen naturally, given the price of the toll.

One of the organisers, who gave only the first name Lucie and spoke masked, described the protest as a way to show that such projects are not a given. The movement has opposed the construction since work began in spring 2023.