New clashes erupted in Paris on Sunday, a day after France had experienced one of the worst days of upheaval in years, with protests over high prices that left one protester dead, thousands of people detained, and stores looted or damaged across the country.
Demonstrations across the country turned into riots on Saturday, with a city hall set on fire, fashion stores looted, and buildings covered in graffiti, as violent groups clashed with police in cities across the country.
One protester died after suffering a heart attack during the protests in Paris. Police carried out more than 2,000 arrests across France, while more than 600 police officers were injured, the interior minister said.
“This feels like a war zone,” said Dutch businessman Tije De Boer, who had come to Paris with his children to visit a friend and said the protests forced him to evacuate his hotel on Place de la République, one of the most troubled sites on Saturday.
Police again fired tear gas at protesters on Place de la République and bicycles were set on fire on Sunday afternoon, a sign that tensions had not yet fully eased in the capital.
More than half a million people took part in marches in dozens of cities on Saturday, marking the convergence of a student movement that has lasted a month with broader social discontent over rising living costs and the decline of public services.
President Emmanuel Macron will address the nation at 8 p.m. local time on Sunday, his office said.
The Saturday disturbances revealed the deep anger toward Macron, who will leave office in 2027 after a decade in power increasingly marked by social discontent, a weak economy, and soaring debt.
The government attributed the violence to far-left and ultra-left groups, as well as criminals who, according to the government, instigated looting.
The leader of France’s far-right, Jordan Bardella, said that France had been “humiliated” and called on Macron to resign.
Hundreds of stores damaged
While hundreds of thousands protested peacefully, violent fringe groups attacked public buildings, looted luxury boutiques and supermarkets, and assaulted vehicles and police.
A massive cleanup operation began in cities from Lille in the north to Marseille in the south, and from Strasbourg in the east to Bordeaux in the southwest, where a masked crowd invaded the mayor’s residence.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said that several hundred stores were damaged on Saturday.
In Limoges, in the southwest, mayor Guillaume Guerin denounced the chaos after the city hall, 143 years old, had been set on fire and widely destroyed in a criminal attack on Saturday, prompting comparisons with the 2019 Notre-Dame Cathedral fire in Paris.
“There was a clear and premeditated intent to set fire to the city hall, and the people who were inside feared for their lives,” Guerin told Reuters. He threatened to resign if the city did not receive the resources needed to repair the city hall.
Presidential election will take place next year
The disturbances increased pressure on President Macron and his government ahead of the presidential election scheduled for next year. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu attributed the disturbances to the “extreme left” and to criminals.
Economy Minister Roland Lescure promised support on Sunday to the businessmen who suffered losses. “Those who destroy things will pay, repair the damage, and be held accountable for their intent to sow chaos,” Lescure said in a statement.
The mayor of Bordeaux, Thomas Cazenave, said up to 100 stores were looted in his city, while Marseille’s mayor Benoît Payan announced emergency financial aid to support businesses affected by the violence.
Carrefour’s chief executive Alexandre Bompard told BFMTV that 50 of the group’s stores were damaged, including 20 looted, with losses from the damages totaling tens of millions of euros.
The protests began last month over school conditions and the shortage of teachers in working-class suburbs before turning into a movement against inequality, cuts in public spending, and rising cost of living.
