Warnings over Madonna concert

If controversial images of Le Pen are shown again this evening, Front National locals say they will not stand for it

A wave of 30,000 people is expected to descend on Nice tonight (Tuesday) to attend the singer’s concert. Traffic is therefore likely to be busy before the show and particularly after, when between 11.30pm and 12am, concert goers will be making their way home. The gig will take place at the Stade Charles Ehrmann near Nikaïa and it is recommended that La Route Grenoble be avoided this evening.

Meanwhile, Madonna has reportedly been warned not to repeat a video montage linking the Front National Party leader Marine Le Pen to the Nazis, as she has done during a previous concert in the country. Outrage exploded from the far right party as she sang on stage in front of a depiction of Le Pen with a swastika imposed on her forehead.

In Nice, it is reported that Front National party activists have been tearing down posters advertising Madonna’s concert, replacing them with pictures of their party leader.

Lydia Schenardi, head of the FN in the Alpes Maritimes administrative region, told France24 that Nice, where 18% of voters supported Le Pen in April’s first round of the presidential election, would not tolerate seeing Madonna link the party to Nazism. Schenardi concluded that if the video montage were to be played again at tonight’s concert, a complaint would be lodged.

Emma Hawcroft