Halluin

Halluin (; ) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.
Geography.
It is located at the north of the Métropole Européenne de Lille, on the Belgian border, contiguous with the Belgian town of Menen.
Transport.
The Halluin railway station, closed in the 1970s, was situated on the Somain-Halluin Railway. The town is now served by buses of Ilévia.
The A22 autoroute links the town to Lille and Belgium.
Politics.
An erstwhile bastion of the left, Halluin owes its nickname "Halluin the Red" to the powerful trade unions who used their influence to support Communist mayors during the interbellum. However, since the 1990s Halluin has become gentrified (see also below), and in the 2007 and 2012 presidential elections the town backed Nicolas Sarkozy.
In 2014 mayoral elections, voters chose the right wing parties by a solid margin of 62% : 
Gustave Dassonville (UMP) received 40% of the votes and Jean-Christophe Destailleur (Centre-right) received 22% of the votes. Left wing parties with 38% of votes have been defeated, and Gustave Dassonville succeed. Six years later, in 2020, Jean-Christophe Destailleur (Centre-right) has been elected mayor of Halluin. 
Despite the noted gentrification of Halluin, the neighbouring town of Menen, Belgium, situated within walking distance of Downtown Halluin, underwent a simultaneous radicalization, given the municipality's attempts to ban its employees from speaking French to Francophone people whose command of Dutch may be limited, and to use sign language instead. While some townsfolk of Halluin's adjoining conurbation may have regarded this as a brave attempt to enforce Flemish supremacy over Francophone neighbours, others including Francophone neighbours themselves and international observers may have regarded such a measure as allegedly fanatical and insensitive to the needs of Francophone neighbours with limited command of Dutch; and international press comment was provoked by these municipal regulations.
Twin towns.
Halluin is twinned with: