"Forbidden to die". This is the decree imposed by the Mayor in Sarpourenx, a town situated between Bayonne and Pau, in Bearn, to be precise.

Mayor Gérard Lalanne has decided, through a municipal decree, to forbid “all persons who do not have a family grave in the cemetery and want to be buried in Sarpourenx, die at this town”.

The problem of the town is that there is no more room in the cemetery and it has no municipal lands. The City Council wanted to expropriate an agricultural land in order to extend the cemetery. However, judge has turned down the expropriation.

The most curious thing is the reprisal for the ones who do not respect the decree. He warns that “offenders will be sanctioned for their acts”.
It is not the first time a decision like this is taken in a town. Some months ago, in November 2007, the mayor from the French town of place Cugnaux , situated in the south of Toulouse, imposed the same measure. In fact, Lalanne contacted him before imposing this decree.