Name: Macron backs UNESCO bid for French bistros and cafés
Uploaded: 2026-01-16T15:11:10.548Z
Duration: 2 min 1 s
Description: French President Emmanuel Macron has backed a campaign to have France’s bistros and cafés recognised as part of Unesco’s intangible cultural heritage, putting them on a par with the baguette. The push follows a 2024 initiative by the Association of French Bistros and Cafés, which argues these venues are enduring social spaces that link generations.

French President Emmanuel Macron has backed a campaign to have France’s bistros and cafés recognised as part of Unesco’s intangible cultural heritage, putting them on a par with the baguette. The push follows a 2024 initiative by the Association of French Bistros and Cafés, which argues these venues are enduring social spaces that link generations.

Nice

French President Emmanuel Macron has expressed support for a campaign to have French bistros and cafés recognized by UNESCO as part of the world's intangible cultural heritage. The number of these establishments has dropped from 500,000 in the early 1900s to fewer than 40,000 today, prompting concerns about their future.

Local owners and patrons highlight the role of bistros and cafés as vital community meeting places, offering social interaction and continuity. Supporters believe UNESCO recognition could help attract more visitors and provide an economic boost, similar to the effect seen when the French baguette was added to the UNESCO list three years ago.

Macron backs UNESCO bid for French bistros and cafés

Every day, for 40 years, she has sat down at this famous café in the centre of Nice. Simone Eben is what you call a regular. It's very good. I often come to drink a little coffee, I chat with all the waiters. In the 1900s, there were 500,000 bistros in France. Today, less than 40,000 remain. This café is 130 years old, set up in a former butcher's shop on the route taken by the first passengers of the Paris-Lyon-Marseille railway line. Patrick Francois took over the café from his father in the 1980s. He has kept a few remnants from the past. This coffee maker is turn of the century. It was one of the first. It's not very practical, but aesthetic. Having grown up surrounded by the aroma of coffee, he recognises the unique atmosphere in these cafés. The people, the noise, the atmosphere. It's best when it's busy. An hour's drive away, the villagers of Bouillon meet up at the local bistro to wish each other a happy new year. We come here, we sit down, we chit-chat. It's perfect. It's just what we need. It's a meeting place where people stop by to buy tobacco, or sit down and read a newspaper over a cup of coffee. Marion Fabre has run this spot for four years, with both a service counter and a busy kitchen. We see people before they go to work. We see them when they come back home. We see children growing up. So all this is really great. While these cafés battle a winter revenue slump, recognition by UNESCO could provide a much-needed economic lifeline. People come to see this rustic site, so if indeed we're listed by UNESCO, yes, it could certainly attract even more people. Three years after the baguette made the list, France is hoping its bistros and cafés will be next in line for the UNESCO crown.

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