Mireille Welter has been mayor of the municipality of Esch-sur-Sûre for six months. Her plate has been full, given that the Upper Sûre Lake was overrun with visitors this summer. Looking ahead, plans are being drawn up to make the town of Esch-sur-Sûre more attractive outside the main tourist season too.
It is a known fact that more people have been making their way to the lake during summer, but this year's heatwave meant the crowds were already extreme from April through to July. Residents were, initially, concerned that visitors were parking wherever they could and sometimes driving far too fast. Against that backdrop, new measures were rolled out, Mayor Welter stated.
To help handle the situation this year, the municipality deployed security guards along the beaches for the whole of July. She added that it has made a real difference, since the guards direct visitors and point them towards the two free car parks.
A shuttle also runs between the car parks and the beach. Things have quietened down noticeably in August, in part because a different type of tourist tends to come along, and in part because of the blue-green algae. When it comes to the risk of forest fires, however, there is some cause for concern. The beaches are close to the woodland, and strong winds could quickly help a fire spread into the vegetation.
Turning to the town of Esch-sur-Sûre itself, the municipality is well aware that things are extremely quiet outside the peak tourist season, to the point where even the restaurants sometimes close their doors altogether. That is something the local council wants to now work against.
A number of working groups have been set up to tackle various aspects of the challenge, Welter said. One is focused on the village centre and its infrastructure, another on the castle, the town's showpiece attraction. A master plan is now being drawn up, and the municipality is looking at how to roll it out over the coming years.
The cultural offering will also be broadened. This year already saw plenty on the calendar, from the Rencontres Artistiques to the beach summer programme. Esch-sur-Sûre potential is clear with the town once again being picked out as one of the 20 most beautiful villages in Europe by GEO magazine.
