Clashes between police and protesters, massive looting and multiple blazes gripped France on Saturday, as nationwide marches against soaring inflation degenerated into street violence of “extreme intensity”.
The widespread unrest follows weeks of student protests and deepens political uncertainty as the country readies for elections in six months’ time to replace President Emmanuel Macron.
Whole streets in Paris “have been devastated”, the city’s mayor, Emmanuel Gregoire, said as groups of masked young men torched parked cars and ransacked many shops.
Two others were broken into and vandalised in Marseille and Lille. The violence began on the sidelines of marches in the capital and other cities over the cost of living that the interior ministry said were attended by 550,000 people. The CGT union, which took part, said 800,000 people participated. The one in the city of Limoges — more than 140 years old — was largely destroyed by a blaze set by masked protesters who broke in, according to the region’s top official.
French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, who earlier slammed the “violence of extreme intensity”, said late Saturday that 1,200 people had been arrested and 150 police officers hurt. She said on X that, if she came to power, she would protect the French “from the violence of the extreme left”. France’s Yellow Vest movement, which eight years ago staged street protests against Macron’s government over planned fuel tax hikes, had called for Saturday’s “yellow and youth” demonstrations. High school student Kamil Alahyan, 18, said he was protesting “for so many reasons — the elections coming up in 2027, politicians who lie, the ultra-rich who’ve been taking more and more wealth over the past 10 years”.
