Saudi king brings 1,000-person entourage on French holiday

King Salman of Saudi Arabia is taking a three-week vacation on the French Riviera, and he’s bringing along an entourage of 1,000 people. Local residents are expressing happysadness at the news. Happy because the King and his pals will be showering them with petrodollars, but sad because a kilometer of public beach has to be shut down so the 1,001 vacationers can have a little alone time.

From The Telegraph:

The Saudis also generated a great deal of anger by starting work on an elevator from the beach to the villa, which involved pouring a huge slab of cement directly on to the sand.

A petition against the “privatisation” of the public beach gathered more than 45,000 signatures in eight days.

“We recall that this natural zone, like all maritime public estates, is an intrinsic public property that should be available for the benefit of all, residents, tourists, French, foreigners or people passing through,” said the petition.

Hey petitioners: if you have $20 billion, you can have a seat at the negotiating table. Otherwise, keep your traps shut and let your betters enjoy their holiday without being forced to mingle with the filthy underclass.