Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
Today Switzerland observed a national day of mourning for the victims of the Crans-Montana bar fire. Church bells rang out across the country for five minutes at 2pm, and an official memorial service was held in Martigny, in canton Valais, attended by around 700 people, including the presidents of France and Italy.
There was also some positive news: the Swiss National Bank is set to close 2025 with a provisional profit of CHF26 billion ($32.5 billion), driven in part by the rising price of gold.
Best wishes from Bern
Today, Switzerland came together for a national day of mourning following the Crans-Montana bar fire on New Year’s Eve. Representatives from several affected countries travelled to canton Valais to take part.
At precisely 2pm, church bells rang throughout Switzerland for five minutes. A nationwide minute of silence was observed, and train drivers sounded their whistles.
In Martigny, canton Valais, where the official memorial service took place, Swiss President Guy Parmelin, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian President Sergio Mattarella joined relatives of the victims and numerous emergency responders. Nine of the 40 people killed in the blaze in the Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana on New Year’s Eve were from France and six from Italy. Many of the victims were under 18. Of the 116 injured, 83 remain hospitalised in Switzerland and abroad.
“We all have a moral responsibility: the least we can do is apologise on behalf of the entire community,” said Mathias Reynard, president of the Valais cantonal government.
In his address, Parmelin said the young victims “will continue to shine in our memory”. Addressing the 700 mourners in Martigny and those following the ceremony online elsewhere, he added: “Our country bows to the memory of those who are no longer with us and stands by those who face a long road to recovery.”
The Swiss justice ministry says it is examining whether additional measures are needed to provide further support to the victims and their families.
Meanwhile, Swiss prosecutors on Friday summoned Jacques and Jessica Moretti, the couple who ran the Le Constellation bar. The Valais public prosecutor’s office has opened criminal proceedings against them. According to 24 Heures, Jacques Moretti was remanded in custody on Friday due to a potential risk of flight. It also emerged on Wednesday that prosecutors in Rome have opened an investigation into arson and involuntary manslaughter in connection with the fatal fire.
The tragic New Year’s Eve bar fire in Crans-Montana has sent shockwaves around the world. For the more than 826,000 Swiss citizens living abroad, distance fades in times of tragedy, as many feel drawn closer to their country of origin.
The Swiss government’s digital book of condolence for victims of the tragedy in the Swiss ski resort has become a global online site of remembrance. From Paris, New York, Bangkok to Dubai, Swiss living abroad have been expressing their solidarity online. For many, the loss is deeply personal, as they associate the resort and region with memories of youth and family.
The strength of this connection is striking: even descendants of Swiss emigrants in Chile have contributed messages. “This shows that the emotional bridge to Switzerland remains intact across generations,” writes my colleague Melanie Eichenberger.
At the same time, the tragedy has shaken Switzerland’s image as a “country of rules”. As Pauline Turuban and Balz Rigendinger note, the fact that 40 young lives were lost exposes vulnerabilities within a system long perceived as robust.
The Crans-Montana fire has also exposed major weaknesses in Switzerland’s fragmented safety framework, particularly in the area of fire prevention, which largely falls under cantonal responsibility.
The case of the Le Constellation bar highlights the patchwork approach to fire safety regulations across the country. While annual inspections are mandatory in canton Valais, for example, other cantons such as St Gallen do not require regular checks for venues with fewer than 300 people, according to 20 Minuten. In Zurich and Bern, inspections may take place only every five to ten years, making consistent national standards difficult to guarantee.
In canton Valais, the situation was compounded by a supervisory failure: the canton did not systematically follow up on missing inspection reports from municipalities. “Authorities assumed that no report meant everything was in order,” Swiss public broadcaster SRF reports – a misjudgement that allowed years-long gaps in oversight to go unnoticed, with fatal consequences.
Officials stress that responsibility ultimately lies with operators. Inspections, they argue, are designed to verify compliance but cannot always prevent deliberate negligence or last-minute safety breaches, such as blocked emergency exits.
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) is back in positive territory, reporting a provisional profit of CHF26 billion ($32.5 billion) for 2025. The Swiss federal government and cantons are set to receive CHF4 billion in distributions.
“The Swiss National Bank’s annual result has been boosted by a veritable shower of gold,” the Swiss public broadcaster SRF reported today, pointing to valuation gains of CHF36.3 billion on gold holdings as the main driver of the result.
For public finances, this translates into CHF4 billion in payouts – CHF1 billion more than last year. Cantons such as Ticino and Graubünden are expected to receive around CHF110 million and CHF62 million, respectively, offering welcome budgetary relief, RSI reports.
Despite the strong figures, economists caution against optimism. The SNB’s balance sheet remains highly volatile, as illustrated by the record CHF132 billion loss in 2022. Distributions therefore depend heavily on global market developments and fluctuations in gold prices.
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