Standing in a deep morning fog on the rooftop of Strasbourg’s city hall, Mayor Roland Ries gestures towards the modern buildings and cranes that form the city skyline, reports the Financial Times.
In the distance you can see a tram with the slogan “Europtimist” splashed on its doors gliding through the streets as cyclists and pedestrians rush to work. The cross-border extension of the tram line from France’s seventh-largest city — home of the European Parliament — to the German town of Kehl across the Rhine has spurred a flurry of property developments: a dance theatre, student housing, a library, residential apartments and offices.
“This town owes much to the founding fathers of Europe,” the 72-year-old Socialist politician says. “It’s become a cosmopolitan city, immune to the kind of the anti-EU rhetoric we’re hearing these days.”
Vibrant French cities like Strasbourg have placed Emmanuel Macron, a Europhile centrist who has campaigned on optimism, an open economy and pro-business reforms, within touching distance of the presidency. In the northeastern Alsatian city, the 39-year-old candidate attracted 28 per cent of the vote in the first round of the presidential race a fortnight ago, four points above his national score, helping him qualify for Sunday’s run-off.
In contrast, Marine Le Pen, the anti-EU, anti-immigration far-right leader and underdog in the second round of voting, attracted just 12 per cent of Strasbourg’s voters. Yet drive 30 minutes out of town and the optimism vanishes. In Wisches, a village of 2,000 inhabitants nestled in a forested valley, the far-right leader’s plans strike a chord: Ms Le Pen won first place with 34 per cent of the local votes — double Mr Macron’s tally.
Sunday’s presidential duel pits Mr Macron against Ms Le Pen and their clash of visions for the eurozone’s second-largest economy. Opinion polls suggest he will win but the fight for office has exposed a divided country: one part happy, the other unhappy; one urban, the other rural and suburban; one embracing internationalism, the other seeking to erect barriers.
They are the same faultlines shaking other western democracies, splitting those who feel they have gained from the far-reaching postwar liberal shift towards an interconnected world, and those who fear they have lost, or will lose out.
“France is divided and polarised,” Laurent Bouvet, professor at Versailles University, says. “Macron has attracted the better-off, Marine Le Pen has attracted those who feel abandoned.”