Do French still have squat loos?

I DO not like squat toilets. Are they still being sold and installed? Why are these used in France? P.H.

Hole-in-the-floor toilets are called toilettes à la turque.

However, there seems to be a universal disinclination to accept responsibility for them: the Turks (who do have a lot of them, according to Le Guide du Routard, though they are increasingly installing sit-on ones) call them “Greek toilets”, the Greeks call them “Bulgarian” and the Japanese call them “Chinese”.

They are common in rural bars and are still produced and installed, notably in motorway service stations (a Facebook group exists against this).

A sales assistant at Francioli, a firm supplying “urban equipment” such as bins and loos, said the biggest reason is the fact they are cheap.

They are still sold for various public spaces, she said.

Claims sometimes put forward include that a squatting position is healthier and more natural and that it is hygienic not to sit on a public seat.