Saint-Denis Mayor Bans Takeaway Alcohol at the Station — Then a Flag on His Wall Steals the Show

In a video released on Wednesday 14 October, Bagayoko said he had visited shopkeepers in the station district with members of his majority and told them that takeaway alcohol sales were now formally forbidden. Reports on the hours differ: one local outlet says the ban runs until 19:00, while Planet.fr describes an order covering 19:00 to 06:00, based on the mayor’s general powers to keep public order. On Wednesday the decree had not yet appeared in the town’s published list.

The town hall says the aim is to stop night-time brawls and street trading around the busy station. Bagayoko, elected in March as the first Black and Muslim mayor of Saint-Denis, had promised alcohol rules after a public meeting in July. But on social media the measure was instantly read as a religious concession, and the mayor hit back.

“Si nous ne faisons rien nous sommes laxistes, si nous agissons nous sommes accusés de vouloir pratiquer la charia.”

“If we do nothing we are lax; if we act we are accused of wanting to practise sharia.”

— Bally Bagayoko, mayor of Saint-Denis, on X, 14 October 2026

Palestine or Sudan?

A second storm followed. Viewers spotted a flag on the wall behind him in his announcement and took it for the Palestinian flag. It is Sudan’s, which shares the same pan-Arab colours. Critics pointed out that Bagayoko has posted about Palestine more than a hundred times in ten years, and about Sudan only twice. Two weeks ago the same mayor defended pupils blockading a lycée after clashes with police.