Ah, the smell of urine that jumps out at you early in the morning… You have certainly already been confronted with it if you live in Toulouse: it is not good to frequent certain street corners, especially in the festive districts, the day after the evening. So why so much laxity? Does Toulouse lack public toilets? Some residents have spoken out on the matter.

Place Saint-Pierre, high place of the party… and the smells of urine

Morning urine odors are a classic in Place Saint-Pierre, one of the party hotspots in Toulouse. Lydie goes there every day: “It’s foul. It stinks a lot__. Look, there are always traces of urine on the low walls. It does not give a good image of the city to tourists. »

There is indeed a sanisette and a urinal on either side of Saint-Pierre square. But the urinal gives off a very strong smell, even in the middle of the day. So, once the evening comes, with the partygoers parading, you have to arm yourself with the courage of will to go there, according to Martin: “The urinal overflows very quickly with the people there are in Place Saint-Pierre each evening. And so, we end up with urine flowing on the road and the tires of the cars take it everywhere on the square. It’s awful! »

But the smell of urine is not confined to Saint-Pierre: the inhabitants of Belfort and Saint-Aubin districts knows something about it, as Nathalie are the son is educated at the Michelet school: “Unfortunately, there are often people who urinate near the church and at the foot of the tree. It sent very hard. There is a small square in front of the school, but I prefer not to take my son there. »

A lack of public toilets?

So are there too few public toilets in the Pink City? The city matters 62 sanisettes and 8 uri-sidewalks, these street urinals that produce fertilizer through the collection of urine. But adding more will not solve the problem for Emilion Esnault, the deputy mayor in charge of the good performance of the public space: “The number of public toilets is not the real issue. In places where there are a lot of sanisettes and uri-sidewalks, as soon as you move away from a few tens of meters, you again notice urination (action of emptying the bladder, editor’s note) in space audience . The real problem is individual responsibility: we cannot always cry out about the lack of means: it is up to everyone to be respectful of others and of the environment. »

The city of Toulouse plans to install soon four new uri-sidewalks in the city center. By urinating in the street, you are liable to a fine which can go up to 450 euros.

According to the website Public Toilets.com
in 2021 Toulouse, the fourth largest city in France, ranked twelfth of cities with more than 150,000 inhabitants in terms of the number of public toilets per 10,000 inhabitants.