Parts of Paris will be off-limits without a QR code this summer
Anyone wishing to enter certain zones, including residents, will have to show a pass on their phones.
The French capital Paris will be split into zones this summer, with anyone wanting to enter certain areas required to show a pass on their phone.
Special measures will be in place throughout the city as part of increased security around the Olympic Games, which start in July.
Anyone wishing to enter certain zones, including residents, will have to apply for a special Pass Jeux (games pass) on a platform run by police.
It mostly applies to people driving, but even pedestrians will need to show a QR code to enter an area called the ‘grey zone’ around the River Seine in the centre, where the opening ceremony will take place.
The codes will be checked at access points along the entrance to each zone, manned by officers.
Applications for the passes opened today, with people needing to upload various documents to be authorised.
The opening ceremony grey zone will be in place 24 hours a day for an eight-day period from July 18 to July 26.
After the official start of the games, this zone will be lifted but drivers will still need to show their pass at the perimeters of the ‘red’ and ‘blue’ zones which cover significant areas of the city, while grey zones will cover the exact areas where events are taking place.
The policy has echoes of the ‘Covid pass’ system during the pandemic, when many countries introduced QR code passes stored on phone apps, for people to prove they had been vaccinated and access certain venues or transport.
To be granted a pass, people must show proof of identity, an identity photo, their address, and potentially other documents including vehicle registration document or proof of their employer.
It comes after high profile terror attacks in France, including an attack on Bastille Day celebrations in Nice where 86 were killed, and coordinated attacks in 2015 including on the Bataclan concert hall which left 130 people dead.
The UK government warns that terrorists are ‘very likely to try to carry out attacks in France’, saying methods have included knife attacks, shootings, bombings and vehicle attacks.
Zones prohibiting road traffic once the games begin are designed to ‘protect the flow of spectators from the Olympic and Paralympic venues’, organisers said.
‘They will be activated each day of the event on the site, 2.5 hours before the first competition and 1 hour after the last.’
Applying for a QR code games pass is free, and people who already have tickets to events do not need to apply for a separate pass, unless they want to access the area in advance.
To check if you will be affected, the games pass website lets you check addresses on an interactive map.
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