Second Homes in Switzerland: How Images Shape Public Opinion and Legislation

On March 11, 2012, the Swiss people accepted the initiative to limit the number of secondary residences per municipality to 20% of total housing. This law is the work of the extremist environmentalist Franz Weber and his daughter. The voting campaign was punctuated by low blows from supporters and opponents of the initiative, but what will ultimately be remembered most is that the weight of images had a significant impact on the outcome of the vote.

The argument of the initiative committee was that the Swiss territory, and in particular the Alpine one, was the victim of "speculators" (a word hammered home by F. Weber) whose only desire was to generate juicy profits, resulting in a massive and wild construction of second homes. By setting the limit of these residences at 20%, the environmentalist, never short of crazy ideas, aims to stop this concreting and rediscover the world of care bears that he has always dreamed of.

When you go on vacation, to the mountains or to the beach, you want to have a good time, de-stress, and especially not be crammed in like sardines, with your neighbor next door who gives off a mixed smell of sweat and sunscreen. Eco-friendly or not, we are all looking for a nice little corner of paradise, with some infrastructure all the same, but which remains on a human scale.

These are the kinds of images we were served during the campaign. We see the village of Verbier, a famous resort in the canton of Valais, from above. The photo is clearly focused on the centre of the resort, with no glimpse of the surrounding area. Seeing this photo, if I were from Geneva, and I didn't know Valais or knew it very well, I would have immediately voted yes to the initiative. It's a bit like if we were suggesting that you limit the number of private beaches on the Mediterranean coast. Would you have hesitated?

Let's take a step back, from all points of view. Verbier is certainly not the best example of harmonious development with nature, and it is not for nothing that this village was instrumentalized throughout the campaign. However, if we take a broader angle, the same resort suddenly seems much more friendly...

 

Oddly enough, we have never been told about the most famous Valais resort, Zermatt, where cars are prohibited and which is only accessible by train. The village is a model of development that has been done in harmony with the landscape. However, the town has 45% of second homes and the tourists who go there do not complain about it... and we can understand why...

Finally, when I tell you that we never talked about it, it's not entirely true... this is the kind of photo montage that can be found on the Swiss Greens website. Anyone who knows this station even a little knows that its inhabitants will never let such a thing happen. Using this kind of illustration goes well beyond disinformation, it is pure and simple manipulation of opinions.

But let's continue our little tour of the horizon. By showing us only large tourist resorts, we were lied to not only in words, but also by omission. Let's take Bettmeralp, a small resort in the Upper Valais, which also has more than 20% of second homes. Like Zermatt, cars are prohibited there, and you can only get there by... cable car. By the way, cable car rhymes with magical, right?

I'm not done yet. Grächen, still in the Upper Valais, and still more than 20% of second homes. I don't know about you, but we are still very far from mass tourism like Rimini...

Below, still in Upper Valais, Leukerbad, 72% of second homes, known for its thermal springs and its "small" financial worries of the time. If the evil speculators of Franz Weber passed by there, it must be believed that the thermal waters have calmed them down considerably...

But enough about the resorts, Valais, the main target of the Weber initiative, has an incalculable number of sparsely populated mountain regions. Many homes are chalets that the Valaisans have inherited from their parents, and which are therefore second homes. Since few inhabitants live permanently all year round in these regions, the proportion of second homes is necessarily high.

THE Lötschental, even if it is particularly wild and preserved from mass tourism, nevertheless crosses five municipalities which each have more than 20% of second homes. So if by chance you wanted to build a small home there for your weekends and holidays, you can forget it.

Same thing in the Conches Valley, which has focused on hiking and cross-country skiing. Despite its low population density, any nature enthusiast you might be, thanks to Weber, you're in luck when it comes to building your chalet there.

All the municipalities of Valley of Herens also have more than 20% of second homes. The Hérensards have always favored soft tourism over mass tourism. Cycling, snowshoeing, hiking, cross-country skiing and seal skinning are kings there. The result of a collaboration between the commune of Saint-Martin, the Canton of Valais and the Swiss Confederation, the Ossona project is the symbol of this symbiosis with nature. The Val d'Hérens did not wait for Franz Weber to protect its fauna and flora. But once again, and despite the low population density, you will no longer be able to build your little cozy nest there, unless you live there year-round...

As we can see in the previous photos, we are far from the clichés displayed in the press during the initiative campaign. This is confirmed even more beautifully below with the Val d'Anniviers, including the municipalities of St-Luc and Grimentz (seen below) which are the municipalities in Switzerland with the most second homes with more than 80%.

By giving a completely arbitrary figure and relating it to deliberately extreme illustrations, Franz Weber has sown confusion in the minds of the Swiss and misled them. As can be seen in the photos above, a high rate of second homes does not necessarily mean massive concreting, quite the contrary.

Valais has a large number of sparsely populated mountain regions, as previous generations had to go into exile in the Rhone valley, in the canton of Vaud or in Geneva, where there was work. 

These generations left their children chalets, mayens and mazots as an inheritance. Unfortunately, it is not possible to live there year-round, unless you are rich enough not to have to work. Franz Weber therefore puts in the same basket "evil speculators" and ordinary citizens who have inherited a second home. He also mixes up resorts like Verbier or Crans-Montana with towns like Grimentz or St-Martin. Finally, he creates an entry barrier that reserves access to second homes only to the rich, like himself.

If we compare the population density map above with the one below, which shows in red the municipalities whose rate of second homes exceeds 20%, we realize that they are practically identical, but in reverse. This means that the problem does not come from second homes, but from main residences.

It is indeed the lack of primary residences that artificially increases the rate and sparks controversy. By setting an arbitrary limit at 20%, Franz Weber cuts off mountain regions from their income. In doing so, he creates a surplus of rural exodus which in turn causes a decrease in primary residences in these regions, and therefore an increase in the rate of secondary residences! It is the snake biting its own tail.

Franz Weber was born in Basel. This city at the crossroads of Switzerland, France and Germany exudes considerable economic vitality, particularly in the chemical/pharmaceutical industry. Despite the development of industry, Basel is a good place to live. It is a rich city not only from an economic point of view, but also culturally and historically. Limiting Valais and its second homes to a questionable cliché of Verbier is a bit like limiting Basel, and even the whole of northern Switzerland, to the photo of Schweizerhalle below. Get someone to vote on an eco-friendly issue by brandishing this cliché and you will see the result...

photo: rts.ch