British holidaymakers are being warned to stay away from a popular seaside city in France after it was ranked one of the “most dangerous” in Europe.
According to a new crime index, Marseille was the second most dangerous place to visit, behind the UK’s very own Bradford, which nabbed first place.
Coventry came in third followed by Birmingham in fourth and Naples in Italy in fifth place. Of the top 20 most dangerous cities, Montpeiller in France came sixth, Liege in Belgium seventh and Grenoble, France, in eighth.
In ninth was the Sicilian city of Catania, followed by Paris and then Malmo, Sweden, in 11th. In 12th place was Nice, France. Greece’s capital Athens, as well as Lyon in France and Manchester in the UK made the list along Brussels and London.
Ukraine, which is in the middle of a bloody war with Russia, ranked eighteenth, with Odessa, also in the war-ravaged country, coming 19th. In last place was Thessaloniki, Greece.
Louis Maurin, from the Observatory of Inequalities, said Marseille’s ranking was linked to the high level of poverty experienced by residents in the southern French city. He told France 3 Regions: “There are no major cities in France other than Marseille where there is such a concentration of poverty.”
Mr Maurin said the area of Marseille-Aubagne experienced the largest increase in unemployment in France over the last three years. By the end of 2018, more than 95,000 residents were unemployed.
The seaside city is also notorious for its drug wars. In 2021, French president Emmanuel Macron chose Marseille as the location to launch his re-election campaign and later announced a €1.5-billion plan to help tackle the city’s crime problem and poverty.
Gang violence grew to its highest level since 2016 in 2022 with 32 people shot dead. A comment from a tourist warrned it was the “sketchiest city I’ve ever been to”.
They added: “My friend had a phone robbed from his hand on the first day, second night after leaving a bar we were surrounded by a huge group of street muggers holding knives.”
Meanwhile, one tourist said fifth-placed Naples was the “unsafest city in Italy”. They added: “too many attempts of robbery, car theft and violent gangs driving their motorbike on the sidewalks without helmets.”