France was engulfed by some of its worst unrest in decades as demonstrations over soaring living costs and deteriorating public services descended into violence in several cities.
Hundreds of thousands of people joined peaceful marches across the country, but groups on the margins attacked public buildings, looted luxury shops and supermarkets, and targeted police vehicles and officers.
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Limoges city hall was set on fire, while in Marseille, protesters dressed in black forced their way into City Hall and covered the building in anarchist graffiti. In Lyon, demonstrators torched the city’s tourist office.
Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said the government would not be “intimidated” by the disorder, blaming the violence on the “far-left” and criminals just months before next year’s presidential election.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said about 550,000 people had taken part in protests nationwide. The CGT union gave a higher estimate, telling Reuters that as many as 800,000 protesters had joined the demonstrations.
Lecornu, speaking during an evening visit to affected areas, said about 1,200 people had been arrested.
The CGT union said its estimate of the nationwide turnout was 800,000 people.
French police, demonstrators in stand-off on Paris street
President Emmanuel Macron promised that those responsible for the attacks would be prosecuted and punished.
“We will all stand united against the sowers of chaos, who only seek to undermine our institutions and prevent those who peacefully express their demands from doing so,” he wrote on X.
Demonstrators insisted that the overwhelming majority of participants had marched peacefully, saying troublemakers had come intent on provoking clashes with police and damaging property.
Many carried placards condemning the police, the president and France’s wealthy elite.
“We are fighting because the cost of living is too harsh, because the price of fuel is too high, because high school pupils are being violently attacked and hurt all over the country just for trying to protest and ask for more teachers and decent learning conditions,” said Lola, a 19-year-old protester in Paris.
Most demonstrations began around midday, although some groups gathered before the official start time.
Smaller protests also took place in Belgium, Portugal and Italy as living costs continued to rise across Europe. In Albania, demonstrators again took to the streets over allegations of government corruption, a shortage of jobs and poor education standards.
A fire breaks out at a demonstration this evening in Paris, France
Protesters hold a banner reading ‘The people will win’ as they stand on the roof of a building during a demonstration in Montpellier
Crowds protest in Montpellier where a banner reading ‘the people will win’ is seen above
Protesters stand behind a fire during clashes prior to the start of a protest in Marseille
In parts of Paris, police fired tear gas as they pulled back from largely young crowds. Many protesters wore black clothing, hoodies, masks and goggles to shield themselves from the gas.
Rioters attempted to force their way into the Galeries Lafayette department store, damaged banks, ransacked a Lacoste outlet and other boutiques, and looted an SFR mobile phone shop.
Objects, including a large number of cars, were set alight throughout the day.
Yellow Vest movement recalled
The unrest began last month at high schools in Paris’s working-class northern suburbs. Anger over teacher shortages and run-down facilities soon widened into a national movement focused on inequality, public spending and household finances.
In Paris, demonstrators wearing high-visibility vests brought traffic to a standstill, evoking the Yellow Vest movement that defined an earlier period of Mr Macron’s presidency.
The latest protests drew larger crowds than the Yellow Vest movement at its peak, although numbers remained well below those seen during the 2023 demonstrations against Mr Macron’s pension reforms.
Mr Macron is approaching the final stage of his presidency amid a fractured political environment and mounting concern about the economy.
Government attempts to rein in France’s public debt have done little to calm investors, with borrowing costs rising to their highest point in more than 20 years.
Protesters, some with a yellow vest, gather amid tear gas smoke near Place de la Republique in Paris
French Republican Security Corps detain a protester during clashes in Marseille
Protesters gather at ‘Monument a la Republique’ during demonstrations in Paris
Police methods have faced renewed scrutiny after demonstrators were injured, including a teenager who lost a hand after picking up a stun grenade.
The police watchdog is examining at least two dozen complaints alleging excessive force by officers.
Lecornu said more than 900 police officers had also been injured during earlier protests.
Nunez said one person lost his hand in clashes with police on the day, while French media reported that he had tried to pick up a stun grenade.
The UNSA police union posted a video on X that appeared to show crowds striking police vans with clubs and bricks in several locations.
The union said police forces were nearing breaking point and warned the government that officers could not continue operating under such conditions.
“Today again, in every corner of France, our colleagues are being used as punching bags. Pelted with stones, injured, trapped in real ambushes,” the union said.
“Let everyone take responsibility: this cannot go on indefinitely. The rope is stretched to its maximum.”
