Page "Nice" Paragraph 32

In the second half of the 20th century, Nice enjoyed an economic boom primarily driven by tourism and construction.

Two men dominated this period: Jean Médecin, mayor for 33 years from 1928 to 1943 and from 1947 to 1965 and his son Jacques, mayor for 24 years from 1966 to 1990.

Under their leadership, the city experienced extensive urban renewal and new constructions were undertaken ( Convention centre, theatres, new thoroughfares and expressways, etc.

) The arrival of the Pieds-Noirs, refugees from Algeria after 1962 independence, also gave the city a boost and somewhat changed the make-up of its population and traditional views.

By the late 1980s, rumors of political corruption in the city government surfaced and eventually formal accusations against Jacques Médecin forced him to flee France in 1990.

Later arrested in Uruguay in 1993, he was extradited back to France in 1994, convicted of several counts of corruption and associated crimes and sentenced to imprisonment.