Mass illegal caravan encampments in France: over 1,500 vehicles

Over 900 caravans moved into the Calvados department this weekend and illegally occupied private land. In Branville, the community left on Monday, July 20, 2026, but in Pont-l’Évêque and Auberville they plan to stay until Sunday. Authorities have initiated procedures to expedite their departure.

On Sunday, more than 200 caravans from the travelling community illegally set up on a private plot in Le Teich, on the Bassin d'Arcachon. The landowner filed a complaint, and Mayor Karine Desmoulin initiated an eviction procedure through the Gironde prefecture. Some caravans also occupied a Natura 2000 area on Allée de Canteranne, where a similar incursion had occurred weeks earlier.

On the evening of July 19, about 50 caravans occupied the municipal stadium of Ploumilliau. The municipality and Lannion-Trégor Communauté signed an agreement with group representatives to regulate the stay of at least one week. Mayor Yann Kergoat stated that the community arrived from a neighboring commune where it left the premises spotless and paid its water and electricity bills.

Mayor Christophe Korell of Le Plessis-Belleville announced the start of an administrative eviction procedure for 32 vehicles and caravans illegally set up on a water retention basin. The landowner filed a complaint, the mayor contacted the sub-prefect, and gendarmes are on site.

Around 100 caravans of travellers illegally occupied private land and a football field in two communes of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department. The first convoy of about 50 vehicles arrived in the morning in Digne-les-Bains on a plot near the Christophe Ménard rugby stadium; the second convoy of 60 caravans took over a football field in Mézel in the evening. According to the mayor of Mézel, the travellers are expected to leave on 26 July and head towards Isère.

On the evening of July 19, around 30 caravans illegally entered a water retention basin site on the outskirts of Le Plessis-Belleville in southern Oise. Mayor Christophe Korell stated he had contacted the sub-prefect and that an administrative eviction procedure would begin on the morning of July 20, including a complaint from the landowner. A similar illegal occupation occurred in the commune last year.

On Sunday, July 19, about 140 caravans of Travellers illegally occupied a private agricultural field in Bourgneuf (Savoie). The landowner blocked the entrance with his vehicle, trapping 60 more caravans outside and causing a major traffic jam. The occupants stated they intend to stay for 15 days on the site, which has no electricity and only a water point via a fire hydrant. The prefecture, municipality, and gendarmes were deployed; negotiations are ongoing to find another non-private site.

In early May, a traveling community illegally occupied a field in Saint-Pierre-en-Faucigny, Haute-Savoie. Authorities secured the immediate departure of 120 caravans in less than a day.