France sees mass arrests and clashes as cost-of-living protests enter a second weekend

French authorities arrested more than 1,300 people on Saturday as mass protests over inequality and living costs swept the country for a second straight weekend. The Interior Ministry counted 410,000 demonstrators across France, while unions put the turnout at about 800,000.

What began as student protests over poor school conditions has swelled into a nationwide movement driven by cost-of-living and inequality concerns, filling streets from Paris to Marseille. Saturday marked a second straight weekend of clashes, though the violence was less intense than the previous weekend’s unrest, when widespread looting and arson had overwhelmed officers across the country. “They keep us quiet. They take our money, they tax us a lot and we can’t say anything. Today we are in the streets because it’s been too long, it’s been too much,” said Zelie, a 26-year-old peaceful protester in Paris. Others echoed that anger. One masked teenager said looting was wrong but blamed poverty and police violence, adding that the protests would end “when we have a response to our demands. We really want a change in France.”

In the capital, riot police fired tear gas and water cannon after a largely peaceful march from Porte d’Italie toward Porte de Vincennes descended into confrontation near the route’s end. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said several thousand radical activists gathered at the rear of the march, including around 500 individuals identified as rioters. The hooded youths hurled stones at officers, and police baton-charged groups smashing windows along the route. The operation included an elite unit that normally handles organised crime and counter-terrorism. The Interior Ministry said 142 people were arrested in Paris on Saturday, less than half the number detained the prior week.

Unrest was not confined to the capital. In Marseille, protesters set fire to rubbish bins and used metal sheets to block streets, with confrontations continuing after sunset and looters raiding two jewelry shops. In Lyon, police used tear gas grenades to disperse a crowd in an area deemed off-limits by the local prefecture. “There were around 150 of us, mostly secondary school and university students. Then the tear gas came almost immediately. You could barely see anything in the street,” said one protester in the city. Clashes also occurred in Bordeaux and Grenoble, while tear gas was fired in Clermont-Ferrand, Lille, Nantes, and Nice. In Toulouse, a 20-year-old protester had several fingers torn off one hand when a nearby explosive went off. One person was seriously injured in Clermont-Ferrand. As the unrest continued into the early hours of Sunday morning, authorities in Bouches-du-Rhône said seven businesses had been looted or damaged.

Security crackdown and last weekend’s toll

Some 70,000 officers were deployed. The Interior Ministry said 53 officers were hurt in clashes on Saturday. Earlier this week, President Macron decreed that only demonstrations organised by recognised trade unions would be permitted. Hundreds of people have been jailed for vandalism, arson, and looting after fast-track court hearings, and restrictions were imposed in several cities. Last weekend’s demonstrations drew 550,000 participants and resulted in more than 2,500 arrests. More than 2,000 shops and businesses were directly impacted, with damage estimated at hundreds of millions of euros by the Chambers of Commerce and Industry. About 1,000 officers were injured. Rioters set fire to the historic city hall in Limoges, and looters smashed supermarkets and luxury boutiques in Lyon.

Unrest spreads across Europe

The unrest echoed beyond France’s borders. In Barcelona, more than 120 people were arrested after a student protest descended into what local authorities described as “gratuitous violence.” In Tirana, riot police fired tear gas to disperse thousands of anti-government demonstrators. Clashes were also reported in Brussels. In Milan, a major security operation with hundreds of soldiers alongside police prevented protesters from gathering in the city, amid fears of a repeat of violent scenes from the previous week.

Political and market pressure

According to BBC News, Macron will leave office next spring, and polls suggest voters will ultimately face a choice between Marine Le Pen of the National Rally and Jean-Luc Mélenchon of La France Insoumise. Mélenchon accused police of creating “a setup deliberately designed to provoke chaos” that had “mutilated two people.” About 13,000 people joined a peaceful anti-RN rally in Orléans, BBC reported. On financial markets, the yield on France’s 10-year bond rose above 5% for the first time since 2002, settling around 5.03% on Friday. Some investors fear France’s debt problems could spread to the rest of the euro zone.