Drôme

The 2026 municipal election campaign in Romans-sur-Isère, a town of 33,000 residents, unfolds in a heavy atmosphere. Three years after the murder of a teenager at a country ball in Crépol in 2023, fears and resentments linger. Outgoing mayor Marie-Hélène Thoraval struggles to ease these tensions, amplified by a national narrative of ethnic confrontation.