Belgium Wants UNESCO to Add its Local Fries to Heritage List

Yucel Bas prepares fries at Bas Frietjes frites stands in Sint Pieters Leeuw, Belgium, Dec. 4, 2014. (Reuters)
Yucel Bas prepares fries at Bas Frietjes frites stands in Sint Pieters Leeuw, Belgium, Dec. 4, 2014. (Reuters)
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Belgium Wants UNESCO to Add its Local Fries to Heritage List

Yucel Bas prepares fries at Bas Frietjes frites stands in Sint Pieters Leeuw, Belgium, Dec. 4, 2014. (Reuters)
Yucel Bas prepares fries at Bas Frietjes frites stands in Sint Pieters Leeuw, Belgium, Dec. 4, 2014. (Reuters)

Only people who tasted Belgian fries can understand their great appeal. Belgian fries shops want the future generations to enjoy this experience, so they have tabled a request with Flemish authorities to apply for UNESCO world heritage.

Belgian beer culture received UNESCO nomination in 2016, and fries should follow suit, said the president of a union that represents the owners of fries stands.

People take Belgian fries shops as a given, something that will never disappear. But as Bernard Lefevre, president of the union points out, more and more of the mom-and-pop stores, usually run by couples, are disappearing.

“The culture of fries is rooted in all of us. We're used to it, like a fixed value in our lives, therefore, we have to continue to protect it”, he said.

Belgium can propose a UNESCO candidate every two years, and its regions are taking turns in suggestions, according to media reports.

Flanders included fries in its list of intangible and cultural heritage in 2014, and the Flemish region will follow next year.



France Bans Smoking in Beaches, in Parks and Bus Shelters

A beachgoer smokes a cigarette on the beach at La Baule on the Atlantic coast, France, June 25, 2025. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
A beachgoer smokes a cigarette on the beach at La Baule on the Atlantic coast, France, June 25, 2025. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
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France Bans Smoking in Beaches, in Parks and Bus Shelters

A beachgoer smokes a cigarette on the beach at La Baule on the Atlantic coast, France, June 25, 2025. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
A beachgoer smokes a cigarette on the beach at La Baule on the Atlantic coast, France, June 25, 2025. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

France will ban smoking on beaches and in parks, public gardens and bus shelters from Sunday, the government said.

The decree, published in the official government gazette Saturday, will also ban smoking outside libraries, swimming pools and schools, and is aimed at protecting children from passive smoking.

Health and family minister Catherine Vautrin said in May that tobacco must disappear where there are children.

The freedom to smoke "stops where children's right to breathe clean air starts", she said.

Offenders face a fine of up to €135 ($154), Vautrin added.

The ban will not extend to France's iconic cafe terraces however, the minister said.

Electronic cigarettes, which have boomed in France in recent years, are also not covered.

An estimated 35 percent of France's population are smokers – higher than the averages for Europe (25 percent) and the world (21 percent), according to the World Health Organization.

Around 75,000 people are estimated to die from tobacco-related complications each year in France.