and builds his own lift to the beach…
THE King of Saudi Arabia has arrived in France for a three-week Riviera beach holiday – with an entourage of 1,000 people.
King Salman and his entourage will have private access to the beach GETTY
King Salman’s inner circle is to be put up at the family’s private villa – stretching across a kilometre of Riviera coastline between Antibes and Marseille.
Around 700 other members of his ensemble will be accommodated at top Cannes hotels.
The king has even won approval to build a lift, which will rest on a concrete slab, from the luxurious villa straight to the beach that he had closed for his private entourage.
The 79-year-old also plans to build a staircase and wooden walkways leading from his opulent villa down to the Mirandole beach in Vallauris “so his feet never hit the sand”.
But he has provoked anger among residents in the Cote d’Azur after local officials agreed to close down the popular 100-metre-long-beach.
The mayor of Vellauris wrote to French President Francois Hollande to contest the lift – arguing it is against planning permission.
But Hollande fast-tracked permission for the structure “within hours” of the formal request.
The king is even set to have his own lift built directly to the beach from his villa
Salman is already embroiled in a row after holidaymakers in the exclusive area in the French Riviera were banned from visiting the beach next to his “for security reasons”.
Residents have accused the French Government of crumbling under pressure from the Saudi royal family and launched a petition to overturn the ban – which has gathered more than 45,000 signatures in eight days.
The petition states: “We recall that this natural zone, like all maritime public estates, is an intrinsic public property that should be available for the benefit of all, residents, tourists, French, foreigners or people passing through.”
“We ask the state to guarantee the fundamental principle of the equality of all citizens before the law.”
A local woman said she is “sick and tired of this messing around”.
She said: “I can see it’s normal that you need to guarantee their security but they should let us go for a swim.”
Legal action is also being considered, with lawyers arguing that privatising public land in the country is “unconstitutional”.
Blandine Ackermann, chairman of the association for the defence of the environment in Vallarius and Golfe-Juan, said: “We cannot accept that our laws are not being obeyed, whether it is the King of Saudi Arabia or the Pope.”
But Michel Chevillon, president of a Cannes hotel managers association, said the arrival of the Saudi King and his entourage is “good news”.
Chevillon said: These are people with great purchasing power which will pep up not only the luxury hotel industry but also the retail and tourism sectors of the town.”
The king, who took monarch this year, was forced to sack a senior aid in May after he was caught on camera slapping a photographer.
Mohammed al-Tobayshi, the chief of royal protocol, had been replaced by Khalid al-Abbad, though no reason was given for the change.
But the move came just days after a video showed al-Tobayshi slapping a photographer who was taking pictures of King Salman.
Courtest:Express.co.uk
