New commune residents in France must introduce themselves to the Maire

Nicola Harrington

A new family has moved to Reminiac. Where are they living? Some say that they are renting the large white house in the centre of the village, others say they will be renovating a house on the outskirts of Reminiac.

Even the school is buzzing with the news. At midday, Iona was bursting with the news. ‘Two or three more children are coming to school. We don’t know which class they will be in or if they are boys or girls but if there are three new children we will have 27 children in the school.’

I bump into the mayor’s secretary. Did she have any news?

‘Not yet’, she replied, ‘but as soon as a family arrives in a rural community they must introduce themselves to the mayor so that we can fill in the relevant forms about the parents’ origins, ages, professions, and the children’s ages, etc.’

‘They may not introduce themselves to the mayor’ I say, painfully aware that we didn’t formally introduce ourselves when we arrived 10 years ago.

‘They must, it is the law.’ the mayors’ secretary replied.

EDITOR’S NOTE: When moving to a new town or village, French citizens must advise the Mairie of their new residence. This way, they can be added to the Liste Electorale, enabling them to vote in elections.