Halluin


Halluin is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.

Geography

It is located at the north of the Lille Urban Community, on the Belgian border, contiguous with the Belgian town of Menen.

Transport

Bus

L91

Rail

The line was formerly served by the Somain-Halluin Railway.

Road

The A22 autoroute links the town to Lille and Belgium.

Heraldry

Politics

An erstwhile bastion of the left, Halluin owes its nickname Halluin the Red to the powerful trade unions who used their influence to support Communist mayors during the interbellum. However, since the 1990s Halluin has become gentrified, and in the 2007 and 2012 presidential elections the town backed Nicolas Sarkozy.
In 2014 mayoral elections, voters chose the right wing parties by a solid margin of 62% :
Gustave Dassonville received 40% of the votes and Jean-Christophe Destailleur received 22% of the votes. Left wing parties with 38% of votes have been defeated, and Gustave Dassonville succeed.Six years later, in 2020, Jean-Christophe Destailleur has been elected mayor of Halluin.


Despite the noted gentrification of Halluin, the neighbouring town of Menen, Belgium, situated within walking distance of Downtown Halluin, underwent a simultaneous radicalization, given the municipality's attempts to ban its employees from speaking French to Francophone people whose command of Dutch may be limited, and to use sign language instead. While some townsfolk of Halluin's adjoining conurbation may have regarded this as a brave attempt to enforce Flemish supremacy over Francophone neighbours, others including Francophone neighbours themselves and international observers may have regarded such a measure as allegedly fanatical and insensitive to the needs of Francophone neighbours with limited command of Dutch; and international press comment was provoked by these municipal regulations.

Points of interest

Halluin is twinned with: