1. Surviving with Fans and Swimming in the Seine
Paris is currently in a situation where even those who want to install air conditioning cannot do so. Most people are just getting by with fans. Because it is so hot, the city of Paris has opened three public swimming pools in the Seine River. I visited one, and even an hour before closing time, dozens of people were waiting in line for tens of meters to get in. This is despite the persistent water quality issues associated with the Seine. The reason is simple: it is much cooler than their homes, which lack air conditioning.

[Elias / Paris Resident: I have a fan at home, but even when it blows, it is weak and actually blows hot air. So, it is not very helpful for cooling down.]

Setting aside the situation at home, it was common for mothers with newborns to endure 40°C (104°F) heat in hospitals without air conditioning. I could not understand why there was no air conditioning or why it could not be installed, so I looked into it. The structure is difficult for us to comprehend. First, to install an air conditioner, you need permission from the city hall. You don't just submit an application and get approved; you have to submit a structural plan, site photos, and an installation plan to prove that the outdoor unit will not mar the building's aesthetics. You must specify exactly where, at what height, and how it will be installed. If your home is near a historical site, the review process becomes even stricter. Even if you are denied, you can try a second or third time. The real problem comes next. After receiving city hall approval, you must obtain consent from the other residents in your apartment building. It is not just one-third; you need approval from more than half of the residents. And this is a one-strike-out process. Furthermore, it requires procedures like a general meeting of residents, which easily takes two to three months. Even if you experience a 40°C (104°F) heatwave last month and decide, "This won't work, let's install AC!", this summer is already a lost cause. You have to think about next summer and start preparing now. That is why some people take the risk, skipping resident consent and installing them without permission. They feel it is better to be forced to remove it later than to be rejected in the first place.

[Philippe / Paris Resident: Neighbors can just object for no reason. If that happens, you cannot do anything. So, I chose not to ask.]

2. 10 Million Won for a Single Installation?
However, those who were lucky enough to prepare since last year or early this year and managed to obtain consent face another hurdle: the cost of installation. Most buildings in Paris are over 100 years old. Even newer buildings are 40 or 50 years old. There is no existing piping for air conditioning. Once you drill through walls to install pipes, follow the strict regulations for outdoor units, and work according to the slow construction schedule, the cost easily exceeds 10 million won. That is 10 million won to install just one unit. And that is not for a large stand-type unit like we have in our living rooms; those are too large and cannot pass noise regulations. That is just the installation cost for a wall-mounted unit for a room. The problem is that most installation companies are already fully booked for this summer. Construction is not possible until October.

Even if you manage to clear the hurdles of permits, consent, and financial burden, thinking you can finally enjoy cool air is a huge mistake. There is one final obstacle: noise regulations. According to the French Public Health Code, if the noise added by an outdoor air conditioning unit exceeds a certain standard, its removal can be demanded. And what is that standard? 5 decibels during the day and 3 decibels at night. I asked an AI how loud 5 decibels is, and it said, "It is quieter than the sound of leaves rustling in a very quiet night sky." Human breathing is said to be 10 decibels. That says it all. Of course, this refers to the noise added to existing ambient noise, so the standard is slightly different, but it shows how strict the noise criteria are. Consequently, there are many cases in France where neighbors have filed lawsuits over outdoor unit noise, leading to forced removals. There are even cases where compensation was paid for mental distress caused by noise. Given this situation, it is difficult to install air conditioners with outdoor units in France. The current air conditioning penetration rate is around 25%, but that is a figure for all of France, including the hot southern Mediterranean regions. In Paris, the actual feeling is likely less than 10%. Why are the regulations so strict? There is a reason. Paris was not originally hot. In terms of latitude, it is further north than North Korea. Moreover, the summer is dry, so even when temperatures occasionally exceeded 30°C (86°F), it was bearable in the shade. That is why people could live without air conditioning. But now that temperatures are exceeding human body temperature and hitting 40°C (104°F), the shade is useless. The air conditioning regulations that were not a problem before have now become a major issue.

3. Are Portable Air Conditioners an Alternative? But...
This is why portable air conditioners without outdoor units, which are exempt from these regulations, are popular. Since there is no outdoor unit, there is no need for city hall permission or drilling through walls. You can turn them on as soon as you buy them, but the problem is that they are completely sold out. You cannot buy them even if you want to. You cannot find any items on Amazon that can be delivered within a month. Offline stores have been empty since last month. I went to a store to buy one because it was so hot. When I went last month, a clerk jokingly told me that it would be much faster to go to Korea and buy one than to wait. I am kicking myself for not buying one in advance. Prices are now two to three times higher than they were two months ago, but you still cannot find them. Recently, a large supermarket released portable air conditioners at their original price—half the current market price. A long line formed from dawn. As soon as the doors opened, it was chaos. People were pushing, tearing, and hitting; it was truly a battlefield. There were even instances where a man used his strength to snatch an air conditioner from a weaker woman. It was a mess just to get a fan, let alone an air conditioner.

[Aziz / Merchant near the supermarket: It was really like a battlefield. It was chaos. Mothers were collapsing in the middle of the fighting, people were pushing each other, fathers were hitting others. I had never seen such a scene in my life.]

With things like this, it is no wonder people are angry about the lack of cooling facilities.

4. Political Division Over Air Conditioning
Ultimately, the opposition party here even filed a motion of no confidence in the government for failing to prepare for the heatwave. Of course, it was rejected on the 6th, but it shows how furious people are. There is a strong call to change the law to make it easier to install air conditioning in essential public facilities like hospitals and schools, let alone homes. However, this has strangely become a political issue; the right wing argues for actively installing air conditioning, while the left wing suggests considering it in the medium to long term, citing environmental concerns. In fact, there are many people in Paris who genuinely care about and worry about the environment. Therefore, public opinion is not coalescing around air conditioning installation as quickly as one might think. In any case, the law needs to be changed. This summer is already a lost cause, but we will have to wait and see if things can change by next summer or if French traditions will remain as they are.

Reported by Kwon Yeongin | Produced by Shin Hee-sook | Video by Kim Si-nae | Video Editing by Jang Yu-jin | Graphics by Yook Do-hyun | Source: X (@europa, @inst_Actu, @french_report78) | Produced by SBS Digital News