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French President Emmanuel Macron has come under fire after photos showed him riding a jet ski off the French Riviera while the country grapples with repeated heat waves, drought and deadly wildfires.
The images appeared in Paris Match, which featured Macron speeding across the water during his August holiday at Bregancon, the presidential residence on the Mediterranean coast. The magazine also published photos of the president taking part in other water sports, including foil surfing.
Paris Match ran the cover line "Last summer at the helm," referring to Macron's second and final presidential term, which is due to end next year.
A member of Macron's team said the photographs had been taken without permission.
The pictures quickly brought back opposition claims that Macron was out of touch with people dealing with the effects of an unusually harsh summer.
Marine Tondelier, leader of the Greens, contrasted the president's holiday images with what she described as five heat waves, drought and deaths linked to historic wildfires.
She said people in France were going through an "apocalyptic summer," while Macron had effectively rewarded himself with what she called a promotional feature about his holiday.
Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure also argued that the images sent the wrong message at a time when extreme heat and fires were affecting the country.
"While the heat wave continues, France is burning, and many French people cannot afford to go on holiday, the president is having fun on a jet ski in Bregancon," Faure said.
Communist Senator Pierre Ouzoulias also described the photographs as inappropriate.
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