French MPs propose quotas for public toilets in towns

Two French MPs are calling for towns and cities in France to introduce quotas for public toilets which they feel are currently in too-short supply.

François Piquemal (MP for Haute-Garonne) and Mathilde Hignet (MP for Ille-et-Vilaine) say there should be at least one public toilet for every 2,500 inhabitants in every major town and city. They have based this figure on the number of toilets available in Lyon and Rennes which they say are currently the best-equipped major cities in France.

“This is a public health issue for people with illnesses such as Crohn's or diabetes, for the elderly and for children,” said Mr Piquemal to La Dépêche.

Toilets should be free or low-cost to use, be safe and should be kept to a decent standard of cleanliness and supply (including toilet paper, soap and hand washing water), the MPs state.

Current toilet access

Currently, people often have to go to a bar or cafe and buy a drink in order to access a toilet. Some places have so many people coming in to use the bathroom that they have placed a keypad lock on the door with its code printed only on the receipt if people buy something. 

“We do not want people to have to do this,” said Mr Piquemal to RMC. 

Major train stations also usually have toilets but these are often not free to enter. Some public spaces including shopping centres and libraries sometimes have free toilets however the hygiene conditions can be off putting or even render the facilities unusable, the MPs say.

Read more: Bid to make public toilets free in France
Read also: Belle Epoque Paris lavatory is restored as tourist attraction 

An Ifop survey for Diogène-France found that 78% of French people believe there is a lack of public toilets in the country and where they are available 60% find them to be too dirty, 57% too smelly and 52% not safe enough.

Existing public toilet provision

Automatic toilets first began to appear on French streets in the 1980s, usually provided by JCDecaux. The company now manages more than 1,000 of these across 150 towns and cities, while competitor Toilitech operates 540.

If the MPs quota proposal goes ahead even cities that appear to have a good number of public toilets already would have to invest in considerably more.

For example Toulouse (Haute-Garonne) has 67 public toilets managed by JCDecaux and a small number of others managed by the city authorities. In total these equate to one toilet per 0.89 km², showed a 2023 study by newspaper Le Monde. The city already pays €1.6 million a year to JCDecaux for the toilets.

Under the MPs suggested quotas Toulouse would need 202 public toilets to meet the criteria for its population of 504,078 people (around 130 more).

Read also: French pee reader sends health data from the toilet to your phone 

Find a loo

There are many ways for people to find out where the nearest public toilet is located in France, including:

• The website toilettespubliques.com, which lists 30,000 toilets in towns and villages. 

• The ICI Toilettes app (available on Android and iOS) also lists public toilets in a number of French towns and cities.