Mandatory Face Masks: Which Streets Does It Apply To in Your Neighborhood?

As of Monday, August 10th, face masks become mandatory in more than a hundred streets, parks and busy areas across Paris. The measure will be in effect for a minimum of one month.

According to the city and the Paris police prefecture, it will affect the streets “where it is difficult to keep a distance because they are busy or crowded, as well as public and flea markets, some shopping districts, pedestrian areas, and the canal and riverbanks”.

Unsurprisingly, the list indeed includes the banks of the Seine, the Canal Saint-Martin, the Bassin de la Villette and the Canal de l’Ourcq, where many tend to gather during the current heatwave. The Place des Fêtes (19th arrondissement) and the belvedere at Parc de Belleville (20th arrondissement) are other noteworthy additions.

The majority of the streets where wearing a face mask is now compulsory are located in the northern and eastern neighborhoods of Paris. The measure applies to some of the busiest parts of historically working-class districts such as Belleville, Ménilmontant and the area north of Porte Saint-Denis and Porte Saint-Martin.

Once again, the current health crisis highlights the need to extend sidewalks, and more generally the space dedicated to pedestrians, in busy neighbourhoods where only a minority of people owns a car. In Paris, the rate of car ownership for households is only around 36%.

According to a 2017 study by Insee, the national statistics agency, only 12.3% of Parisians relied on their car to get to work every day — compared with 64.8% of the working population concurrently using public transportation. Yet nearly 50% of Parisian streets and public spaces are still dedicated to car traffic alone.

Capture d'écran ville de Paris — © Ville de Paris – Full Map

From La Villette to Bastille, in which streets and areas is it now mandatory to wear a face mask?

Le Marais:
– Enfants Rouges market
– Rue de Bretagne
– Rue des Francs Bourgeois
– Rue Rambuteau

19th arrondissement:
– Boulevard de Strasbourg
– Banks of Canal Saint-Martin (Quai de Jemmapes and Quai de Valmy)
– Rue Cail
– Rue du Château d’Eau (between Faubourg Saint-Martin and Faubourg Saint-Denis)
– Place Ian Karski
– Rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis
– Rue de Lancry
– Rue Louis Blanc (between Place Karski and Faubourg Saint-Denis)
– Rue Lucien Sampaix
– Rue de Metz
– Rue Perdonnet
– Rue Philippe de Girard
– Rue des Vinaigriers

11th arrondissement:
– Belleville market
– Rue Daval
– Rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud
– Rue Keller
– Rue de Lappe
– Rue Oberkampf
– Rue de la Roquette

12th arrondissement:
– Bercy-Village
– Cour Saint-Emilion
– Aligre market

19th arrondissement:
– Avenue Jean Jaurès (between Rue de l’Ourcq and Porte de Pantin)
– Avenue Mathurin Moreau
– Avenue Secrétan
– Joinville market
– Place des Fêtes
– Quai de la Loire
– Quai de Seine
– Quai de Marne
– Quai de l’Oise (until Parc de la Villette)
– Rue de Bellevillle
– Rue Manin

20th arrondissement:
– Belvedere of Parc de Belleville
– Boulevard de Belleville
– Boulevard de Ménilmontant
– Porte de Montreuil flea market
– Rue d’Avron
– Rue de Bagnolet
– Rue de Ménilmontant
– Rue des Panoyaux
– Rue des Pyrénées
– Rue Sorbier (between Rue de Ménilmontant and Rue Juillet)
– Rue Victor Letalle

According to the city and the Paris police prefecture, “these areas will be regularly assessed and may change in the coming weeks based on epidemiological data and the use of public spaces”. Parisians can be fined €135 if they do not wear a mask in the streets and places listed by authorities.

Update – 08/14/2020 : The police prefecture announced an extension of the areas affected by this measure, starting August 15th at 8am. Wearing a mask is now compulsory across most of the districts of Bastille, Belleville, Oberkampf, Porte de Bagnolet, Secrétan, and around the Bassin de la Villette.

– See the complete map –