Since June 2, the thermal baths of Argelès-gazost have closed their building for a period of fifteen days. Nothing serious, but a glitch that falls badly.
The tourist agency of the valleys of Gavarnie announced, at the end of last week, that the thermal baths of Argelès-Gazost closed their doors for a period that the structure estimates at 15 days.
At the origin of this decision, the very frequent checks in this type of establishment which revealed the presence of a bacterium, in the water used in certain treatments provided on site. It will therefore be necessary to wait for the natural evacuation of this problem which occurs in the middle of the cure season, a vexing situation but taken head-on by the persons in charge of the place and measures were immediately taken by the persons in charge, as indicated Gaëlle Vallin, the mayor of Argelès-Gazost: “It is a bacterium due to the torrential rains that we have experienced lately, a phenomenon of runoff of rainwater”.
“Exercise patience”
The elected official recalled that the water in the thermal baths is natural and that no treatment is possible in the pools, apart of course from the classic cleaning: “Checks are carried out very regularly and at the beginning of the week. , the presence of the bacteria had already greatly diminished. We are waiting for the situation to be perfectly healthy because we do not treat the thermal water so that it can keep all its properties. The whole process is very supervised by the ARS and we must be patient because it will take two successive analyzes which will show the total absence of bacteria at the source, on arrival in the establishment and obviously in the stations of the station, so that we can reopen the thermal baths “.
The spa guests and employees will go to Luz and Cauterets
It is therefore quite simply necessary to wait for nature to do its cleaning work so that spa guests are welcomed again. However, those who were already there during the weekend were not released into the wild: “The people who were there were informed and they were offered to be redirected to the thermal baths of Luz or Cauterets, according to their needs and the specialty that is necessary for them. Those who arrived on Monday had been warned and they could choose to go in particular, also to Cauterets or Luz or to postpone their cure”.
Proposals very well received by users, satisfied to see that health safety is very well taken into account at their place of thermal treatment, especially since shuttles have been made available to allow them to reach the thermal baths where they have chose to go. The staff has also been redeployed to these sites to deal with the arrival of shipwrecked spa guests from Argelès-Gazost.
In a few days, the thermal baths should resume their usual rhythm after this altogether natural phenomenon, as Gaëlle Vallin said: “We must let nature get back in order and then we will reopen”.