After this summer’s success, Swiss town will ban foreigners from its swimming pool again; Zurich wants more money for the protection of its synagogues; and more news in our roundup on Thursday.
Swiss swimming pool to ban foreigners again next summer
The Porrentruy municipal pool in canton Jura sparked controversy this summer: following several incidents involving French swimmers, it banned foreigners from entering the pool, restricting access to people living or working in Switzerland.
Despite much criticism, the season’s results are considered positive.
According to local politician Lionel Maitre, the municipal pool noted a sharp increase in the number of season tickets sold since the ban went into effect: 818 – twice as many as the previous year. In addition, there were 40,000 daily admissions, compared to 37,000 in 2023.
Given these numbers, the municipality wants to continue the same system next year as well: that is, reserving season tickets for Swiss residents and limiting the purchase of day tickets by French visitors.
Unaccompanied foreign minors will also remain excluded from the pool. “With the Swiss, we don’t have a problem with incivility,” Maitre said.
Zurich wants more money earmarked for the protection of its synagogues
City authorities asked the municipal council to double the amount of money for the protection of Jewish institutions, from 1 to 2 million francs, retroactively to 2024.
Since the escalation of the Middle East conflict and various anti-semitic incidents in the city, there has been an increased need for security, especially among the Jewish community, the city said.
This leads to higher costs for the protection of people and facilities, such as synagogues.
The canton of Zurich has already doubled its contributions from 1 to 2 million francs. The federal government is contributing to security costs as well.
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An Alpine community joins the ranks of Switzerland’s ‘most beautiful villages’
Bönigen, a community on Lake Brienz, is the first in the Bernese Oberland to receive the ‘Best Swiss Villages’ label, which is awarded by the association of the most beautiful Villages in Switzerland.
According to the association, which bestowed this title on Wednesday, Bönigen “is known for its picturesque wooden houses. It lies on the lower shore of Lake Brienz, nestled between two mountain ranges. “
Additionally, “there is is no shortage of leisure activities, whether on the lake, in the mountains or in the meadows and forests around Bönigen. The historic village centre is characterised by wooden houses dating from the 16th to 19th centuries.”
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Swiss railway will no longer warn animals of approaching trains
The SBB will stop operating a test system with acoustic warning signals on the line between Winterthur (Zurich) and Stein am Rhein (Schaffhausen).
This system was intended to warn wild animals of approaching trains and prevent collisions.
However, the sounds, including those of wild boar, are now a thing of the past. “The system will be discontinued,” the SBB said.
“The pilot project has shown that it is basically possible to warn wild animals with their own species-specific sounds,” the company said.
However, technical improvements would have been needed to operate the system in other locations.
There are therefore currently no plans to equip further sections of the SBB network with this system.
“In order to use the available resources efficiently, SBB is concentrating on protected species such as amphibians,” the company continued.
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