A week ago, France entered its second round of Coronavirus-forced lockdowns this year. The commotion among surfers all over the world wasn’t pleasant, to say the least, in March, April, and parts of May when those lockdowns translated to bans and restrictions on beach access and, by extension, surfing. Needless to say, it’s been eerie seeing a new flood of empty Basque waves in images and videos online, more than six months after the COVID-19 pandemic put a universal stop to everyday life.
But perhaps it was the benefit of hindsight or just simply not having the energy to fight the masses anymore when it comes to things like beach access, because the new lockdowns intended to last until December show at least some acknowledgment of nuance.
“Only professionals can surf,” Basque photographer David Berthet mentioned to The Inertia, “and they are very lucky because an incredible swell has arrived on our shores.”
The most basic guideline of France’s new lockdown restrictions requires citizens to stay at home unless they have “essential reasons,” which include “getting some air,” health visits, to buy essential goods such as groceries or to help a vulnerable person, or any essential travel to and from work. And if you’re doing any of those things, you need an actual permission slip while out and about. Failure to present one of the three necessary forms starts with a €135 fine should you be stopped by authorities.
And guess who can technically carry such forms without even having to so much as fib about being out and about for work purposes. “High-level sportsmen, national hopefuls an collectives, sportsmen falling under the federal performance project (PPF), according to a press release from the Fédération française de Surf requested specific exemptions for. And of course that includes professional surfers. They got to enjoy bombing conditions like the those in the video above without the requisite crowds. That would certainly make it easier to get through a lockown.
