French mayor fined for intentionally placing bus stop near his restaurants

France 24

France's Mont-Saint-Michel is surrounded by sand at low tide. REUTERS photo / Jean-Yves Desfoux

Mayor of the world-famous tourist attraction, Mont Saint-Michel, an island in Normandy, in northwestern France, was given a six-month suspended jail sentence and fined 30,00 euros for "positioning a bus stop" on purpose near shops and restaurants that he owned so that tourists would be forced to pass by.

Eric Vannier, who has served as mayor of Mont Saint-Michel since 1983, save for the years between 2001 and 2008, owns 80 percent of the touristic businesses on the island and earns around 29 million euros a year.

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