2026 Municipal Elections in Nice: Will the Case of Eric Ciotti's Alleged Illegal Files Launch (Real) Hostilities?

Overheating. If anyone still had any doubts about the political climate in Nice, the affair surrounding Eric Ciotti's alleged illegal files has finally convinced them that the electoral heatwave will not last just one summer.

Ultimate proof that the mercury has exceeded the red zone: it is Christian Estrosi who has taken to the front lines and not his faithful lieutenants who, as usual, take to social media to mock or blame public enemy number 1.

This time, it's the boss himself who has brought out the Kalashnikov. No more foil - speckled - now it's time to move on to heavy weapons.

The municipal elections in Nice are now. Even if Eric Ciotti is not yet an official candidate, he could reveal himself, according to some of his close associates, at the end of the month.

"You are nobody"

Christian Estrosi, who is outraged by his rival's databases potentially containing personal data? "You are nobody," retorts UDR MP for Alpes-Maritimes Christelle d'Intorni. This is an allusion to the Mayor of Nice's trip to Villefranche Bay.

It was last July 3rd. With a single stroke of the boat, he had tried to turn back a building on the seas by virtue of a decree that did not exist and shouted a furious "You are nobody" at the captain of the liner, who remained unmoved.

Would Christian Estrosi be prepared to take the necessary legal action if such files "which recall the darkest hours of history" really existed?

Here is the other UDR deputy from the Côte d'Azur, Bernard Chaix, who, on his X account, reminds him: " 18 legal cases, a recent police custody, more than €30 million swallowed up for an F1 Grand Prix dozens of kilometers from Nice... And [Christian Estrosi] dares to give moral lessons to [Éric Ciotti]?" It's a "bogus" affair, he bombards.

Defamation complaint

On Tuesday, searches were carried out on offices linked to Éric Ciotti within the departmental council and computer data was seized.

An operation as part of a preliminary investigation by the Nice public prosecutor's office into " recording or storing sensitive personal data without the consent of the persons concerned ."

The source: a report made by a "whistleblower" to the public prosecutor, Damien Martinelli. " A former close associate who joined Estrosi's camp ," we believe to know from the entourage of the president of the UDR, allied with the National Rally.

Who, for his part, decided to file a complaint against the mayor Horizons of Nice for defamation, following his comments on the " alleged profiling ".

These remarks, Ciotti insists, are " extremely serious and [which] amount to gross manipulation ."

Blow for blow. The municipal elections in Nice are really happening now.