PARIS: While there are those who fear that Friday will bring about the end of the world, presaged by the end of the ancient Mayan calendar, in the French village of Bugarach — the only place apparently set to escape the apocalypse — most locals are planning a quiet night in.

But such is the global interest, the French police have closed off access to the mountain peak in the village to keep out the expected influx of international journalists, even if the feared mass arrival of hippies, new agers and Armageddon groupies has failed to materialise.

Bugarach, in the foothills of the Pyrenees, became known as the “Village of the End of the World” following two years of intense media focus since the local mayor raised concerns about online rumours that the Mayans had predicted it was the only place that would be spared Armageddon.

On Wednesday, the local prefecture of the Aude department in southern France launched its plan to close all access to the mountain peak, to stop inexperienced walkers trying to climb the strange-shaped mountain that for decades has been rumoured by some to host alien activity or a “UFO (unidentified flying object) garage”, but which recently has been described as a Mayan place of safe passage to the next world when the apocalypse comes.

Villagers have been issued with windscreen passes to get through police checkpoints around Bugarach. Heavy vehicles will not be allowed through and camping, hiking and hunting will be banned. The prefect’s office said any large “festive gathering” is also outlawed. This week, the prefect issued a warning to “vehemently discourage” the public from trying to come to Bugarach between Dec 19 and 23 because they risked not being able to gain access the village.

But despite gendarmes keeping watch at entrances to the village, one local police officer said there were five times more journalists than security forces. So far, over 250 journalists are accredited to report from the village, more than twice the population of the tiny, picturesque village.

Meanwhile, the media presence was exasperating locals in the village, where streets were mostly deserted except for camera crews looking desperately for interview subjects. A sign on the village guest house door read, “No interviews”. All 100 beds in the village's hostels and guest houses were booked, mainly by media. Even if locals and French media were braced for what looks likely to be a big anticlimax, Bugarach's newfound fame had captured the public imagination.

Even the soap opera Plus Belle La Vie had filmed a special episode to be shown today, in which its teenage characters flee to Bugarach to survive the end of the world and end up in all sorts of trouble.

Jean-Pierre Delord, the village mayor, said, “For the moment, it's quiet here. There aren't many people, only really journalists and gendarmes. It's very calm. I'm very busy talking to journalists, but there has been no sign at all of esoteric or new age groups. It's just as we had expected — more of a media phenomenon than anything else.

“I never believed any of this prophecy stuff and I certainly don't now. Tomorrow, I'll be serene, preparing for a quiet Christmas, and calm will be restored.”

Valerie Austin, a teacher and local choir leader, said, “There are lots of journalists, some gendarmes but no new agers. It's like a media bubble, it's slightly surreal.”

She said because of the huge media presence, “normal life” was very difficult. Today, she is going to friends in the village to watch a Bugarach documentary in the afternoon and then have a quiet night in. “I'll come back, shut the door, have supper and go to bed. I'm confident I'll wake up again the next morning.”

By arrangement with the Guardian