Paris (France) (AFP) – Activists symbolically "moved" part of a Relay store at Montparnasse station on Friday to denounce Vincent Bolloré's "monopoly" and the promotion, in these stores, of far-right publications, AFP journalists noted.
Published on: 06/11/2026 - 17:36Modified on: 06/11/2026 - 18:10
In a few minutes, around thirty activists emptied the daily newspaper display and part of the shelves reserved for magazines to fill around twenty moving boxes which they placed at the entrance to the Relay store, owned by the Lagardère group controlled by the conservative billionaire.
In a space demarcated by ribbons stamped “climate crime scene”, they then brandished a sign proclaiming “Relay misinforms / SNCF Castex accomplices” and another assuring that “extreme right propaganda kills”.
The activists quickly left the scene when the security agents arrived, under the questioning gaze of passers-by and the disapproval of the store employees.
“We demand impartiality and neutrality of public space because stations belong to everyone,” Zoé Pélégry, spokesperson for Alternatiba, which organized the action with the ANV-Cop 21 collective, explained to AFP.
“The SNCF should not give priority to a billionaire who does not hide his retrograde political project,” she added.
Chaired since 2025 by Jean Castex, SNCF renewed in 2023 the contract handing over to Relay, owned by the Lagardère Travel Retail subsidiary, the operation of newspaper and book sales stores in its stations.
Since the takeover of Lagardère by Vincent Bolloré at the end of 2023, this partnership has given rise to questions about the privileged place that Relay stores would give to newspapers and books close to the far right.
Published in June, a study by L'Observatoire des multinationales, which scrutinizes the actions of large groups, reported an over-representation in Relay stores of a work by Philippe de Villiers or JD News, the JDD's weekly, and noted the presence of the far-right magazine "La Furia".
“What we say to Jean Castex is that if you don’t move Bolloré out of our stations, we will do it,” continues Zoé Pélégry. “We must break this monopoly.”
The action carried out on Friday attracted some curious onlookers but was not unanimous. “That’s not democracy!”, one customer told the activists. “You take away Le Monde, I don’t think it’s Bolloré.” “This is complete nonsense,” thundered another, furious.
The store saleswoman didn't hide her anger either: "Even during inventories, we don't move as many magazines and, now, it's us who will have to put everything back in place."
© 2026 AFP
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