Industrial Legacy and Environmental Renaissance

The lower Rhône bears scars from decades of industrial development. Chemical plants, refineries, and manufacturing facilities line its banks, particularly around the Étang de Berre. These industries drew workers from across the Mediterranean—Italy, Spain, North Africa—creating working-class communities with their own distinct cultures.

Today, environmental restoration efforts try to heal old wounds. In Arles, a massive cleanup project involves not just engineers but also local communities who remember the river before pollution. Fishermen from multiple generations share knowledge about which species have disappeared and which might return.

"My grandfather fished here when the water was clear," recalls Abdel Hamidi, whose family came from Algeria in the 1950s. "He taught me to fish even when the river was poisoned, saying 'One day it will be clean again.' Now I teach my grandchildren, and slowly, the fish return. The river has a long memory."