Six woodland areas in Antibes closed for the whole of August

Throughout August 2026 access to six woodland areas in Antibes is closed — the town hall says the ban is due to a very high risk of fires. City parks and gardens are operating as usual and close at 21:00.

What’s closed

The ban covers the Bois de la Garoupe, the Bois du Fort Carré, the Domaine de Pimeau, the Bois des Semboules (except for the playground), Parc Albany and Villa Eilenroc — the very villa that stands on the Cap d’Antibes headland near the billionaires’ villas. The Antibes town hall said this on 3 August 2026. There are 600 hectares of forest within the city.

Fines and bans

Smoking in the woods and lighting barbecues are prohibited. On beaches, barbecues, wild bivouacs and campfires are banned, as are cigarettes, shishas and any water-pipe devices — a €135 fine. The same applies to a cigarette butt dropped in the street: the town hall points out that a single butt can start a fire, pollutes 500 litres of water and takes three years to break down in nature.

Who watches over the woods

From mid-June to mid-September 21 reservists of the Communal Forest Fire Committee (CCFF) are on duty in the woods — at weekends and on public holidays from 13:00 to 19:00; on weekdays, from 1 July, two seasonal staff take over. «Their job is prevention among walkers. They patrol in pairs and on foot in the woods of the Semboules, the Garoupe, the Valmasque, the Fort Carré and in Parc Albany», explains Caroline Rimbert, head of the city’s urban civil protection service. A 500-litre water tanker is kept ready: enough for a blaze of up to 100 m².

Why now

The ban falls in yet another hot spell of the summer — the day before, the Alpes-Maritimes were once again placed on orange alert because of the heat. In the neighbouring Var department a large forest fire has been burning for a second week.

If you see flames or smoke, call 18 or 112 straight away and get to safety.

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Photo: beijia MAO / Pexels