The ruling upholding the ban on so-called burkinis fell as the newspaper Nice Matin revealed that another Riviera town, Villeneuve-Loubet, had issued a similar ban.
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Mayor David Lisnard said the full-length Islamic swimsuit is an “ostentatious” display of religion which can inflame public disorder.
The mayor of Cannes has banned full-body swimsuits – also known as burkinis – from the beaches of the French Riviera resort city citing security reasons. Lavisse believes that the measure was just a way of making publicity to the city since it has been reported that women on Cannes’ beaches continued to wear burkinis, and authorities have not approached them.
Cannes’ burkini ban came into force at the end of July, imposing a fine of £33 (€40) for anyone caught breaking the rule.
The full-face veil is already forbidden in public spaces under French law, with headscarves in public schools also banned.
“Beachwear manifesting religious affiliation in an ostentatious way, while France and its religious sites are now the target of terrorist attacks, could create the risk of disturbances to public order”, the ruling says.
The full-body “burkini” swimwear, designed by Lebanese-Australian Aheda Zanetti, has empowered Muslim women around the world to respect the modesty constraints of their religion, while enjoying a “traditional Aussie” day on the beach.
The private event, organized by the women’s community group Smile 13, sparked outrage among some politicians and French citizens who claimed it was an affront to France’s rigorously enforced secularism.
Both the Collective Against Islamophobia and the local chapter of the League of Human Rights (LDH) said they would challenge the ban in court.
“France TV Info’s legal blog, Judge Marie, says the risk of disturbing public order, invoked by the Cannes mayor, seems rather tenuous”.
We are not banning the veil, nor the [Jewish] kippa nor crosses.
The move to ban the “burkini” follows attacks throughout France in July, which left 85 dead in Nice and saw an elderly priest killed in northern France.
France has been on high alert in the aftermath of recent terrorism, including a deadly truck attack in Nice, which killed 84 people some 20 miles from Cannes.
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Some French critics of the “Islamic dress day” at the water park say that Muslims who wear religiously affiliated clothing in public are mingling religion with civic life, a muddying of the waters of France’s strict secularism.
