Paris (Reuters) – Clashes erupted between police and protesters in cities across France this Saturday, as tens of thousands of people, outraged by rising living costs and the deterioration of public services, took to the streets in some of the country’s most violent protests in years.
The French Interior Ministry said that 272 people had been detained by mid-afternoon, after violent incidents involving hooded individuals, including in Paris, Marseille in the south, Toulouse in the southwest, Angers in the west, and Lyon in the central-eastern region of France.
The protesters said that most people were protesting peacefully and attributed much of the violence to rioters who aimed to cause damage and confront the police.
The ministry, however, said that the violence was increasing and that there had been “clashes with security forces, looting or attempts to loot stores, attacks and damage to public buildings.” The government attributed the disturbances to what it described as the “extreme left”.
In some parts of Paris, police occasionally fired tear gas while retreating in front of protesters, mostly young, many of whom were dressed in black and wearing hoodies, masks, and protective goggles against tear gas.
Some tourists in a trendy department store near the Paris Opera were seen coughing as they were hit by clouds of tear gas, and nearby shops were hastily closed. The windows of many shops and restaurants in the capital were broken, and cars and trash cans were set on fire.
In Lyon, protesters set fire to the tourist information office.
In Marseille, the mayor said the city hall had been vandalized and that police reinforcements were being sent to the city after talks with the government.
In protests partially inspired by those in France, several hundred people, mostly young, also protested in Brussels on Saturday, and some clashed with police. Belgian student groups said they were protesting against rising costs of education and against reforms that, they fear, will make higher education less accessible.
Albania also faced further protests on Saturday, with police firing what appeared to be rubber bullets at demonstrators during the fifth day of mass student protests demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama.
Police response under scrutiny
The protests in France began last month in high schools in the poor northern suburbs of Paris, where anger over the lack of teachers and the crumbling facilities has grown into a broader movement focusing on inequality, public spending and living standards.
“We are fighting because the cost of living is very high, because fuel prices are very high, because high school students are being violently attacked and injured across the country just for trying to protest and demand more teachers and decent learning conditions,” said Lola, a 19-year-old protester in Paris.
A large police force was mobilized in central Paris, especially near tourist sites such as the Champs-Élysées and the Arc de Triomphe, which were excluded from the routes of two authorized demonstrations.
Protesters wearing high-visibility vests blocked streets, recalling the Yellow Vests movement that marked Macron’s previous presidency.
Macron, who urged calm on Friday, is entering the final stretch of his presidency, facing a fragmented political landscape and growing pressure on the economy.
France’s efforts to reduce public debt have not managed to reassure investors, pushing government borrowing costs to the highest levels in more than two decades.
