The #BrusselsLockdown cat video.
Images of the city’s streets deserted as security forces hunted
suspected Islamist militants have dealt a blow to Belgium’s tourism
industry, with hotels reporting many cancellations.
Capitalising on the social media hit, Belgium’s three tourist authorities have now released a 20-second video
showing cats at Brussels landmarks such as the historic Grand Place or
the Atomium, which they said was filmed at the height of the lockdown.
The video depicts cats dancing all over the city, some wearing black
bowler hats or with green apples in front of their faces in a nod to
paintings by the Belgian surrealist René Magritte.
In the background, a saxophone is heard, an invention of the Belgian
Adolphe Sax. The original trend drew a warm response on social media,
and the tourist authorities said they wanted to show how proud they were
of Brussels and its residents for their good-humoured response to the
crisis.
Belgium’s capital has been on maximum alert since Saturday
over the threat of a possible Paris-style attack. A coordinated assault
in which 130 people were killed in Paris on 13 November was claimed by
Islamic State.
Brussels, home to the European commission, reopened its metro system
and schools on Wednesday, albeit with armed police and soldiers still
patrolling.
“Tourism Flanders, Visit Brussels and Wallonia-Brussels Tourism are
proud of the people of Brussels and wanted to give them an extra boost,”
they said. “Their winking cats evoked great sympathy at home and
abroad.”
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