France was examining the extent of the damage on Sunday, after a day of violence, looting, and chaos that covered a protest scene in which hundreds of thousands participated, denouncing the high cost of living, six months before the presidential elections.
In the face of escalating social tension, and in a state of government impotence due to the lack of a parliamentary majority, the government pledged to deal firmly with the rioters.
The riots were more severe than in the 2023 protests and the “yellow vest” protests in 2018 and 2019, according to what Agence France-Presse reported.
In Paris, as on the streets of major cities, hundreds of establishments and shops were targeted, and entire streets were covered in rubble and the burning carcasses of motorcycles. Local authorities said that "entire streets were systematically destroyed."
While the organizers of the protests said that the number of participants reached 800,000, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez indicated 550,000 participants.
French President Emmanuel Macron pledged on the X platform to pursue and punish “everyone who committed acts of sabotage, attacked institutions or companies, or participated in acts of looting.”
For his part, French Prime Minister Sebastien Le Cornu announced that 1,200 people were arrested in connection with the protests that took place in France on Saturday, while 150 policemen were injured.
“It is a miracle that the toll is not higher,” he said, while inspecting police officers in central Paris.
Locorno stated that the government would not be "intimidated" by the violence, and blamed the "extreme left" and outlaws for the unrest, just months before presidential elections scheduled for next year.
"To those who clearly want to use this violence as a 'prelude' to the presidential elections, I say clearly: We will not allow ourselves to be intimidated. No one will impose their political agenda through violence," he wrote in a post on the
Six months before the presidential elections, the intensity of the political confrontation between Mélenchon and Le Pen is intensifying, as several opinion polls indicate that they may face each other in the second round.
As violence continued until late in the evening, especially in Paris, LeCorno warned that "the financial cost of the damage will be huge."
Trade and Distribution Federation President Alexandre Bombard said he expected "major economic and financial consequences."
In Marseille (south), Lille (north), and Bordeaux (southwest), demonstrators stormed and vandalized municipal and provincial buildings. As for Limoges (central), a fire destroyed a large part of the municipal building, a huge edifice dating back to the nineteenth century, according to local authorities.
On Saturday, La Republique (Republic) Square in central Paris witnessed tension between protesters and security forces, who used tear gas to disperse hundreds of demonstrators, according to Agence France-Presse reporters.
The police, whose members were deployed in large numbers in a number of neighborhoods in the capital, resorted to tear gas against hundreds of demonstrators, most of whom wore black clothes and masks, and some of whom fired projectiles and fireworks at the officers.
As the march began, police used water cannons to disperse violent demonstrators.
A fire broke out in the Paris City Hall building, which is classified as an archaeological landmark, in Limoges (city center), as well as in a building in central Grenoble (French Alps) and in a branch of the tourist office in Lyon.
Lyon Mayor Gregory Doucet described the burning of the city's tourist office as a "tragedy" and told BFMTV: "It breaks our hearts, because the building is historic and very well-known, and is considered one of the city's most prominent landmarks."
Local police said that "hostile individuals" prevented fire brigades from safely extinguishing the fire.
Firefighting teams also battled the fire that broke out in the Limoges municipal building, as local authorities reported that the fire caused part of the building to collapse.
A local official reported that the ancient building in Limoges, which was more than 140 years old, was largely destroyed as a result of a fire set by masked demonstrators after storming it.
Local authorities announced that the governor's residence was looted in Bordeaux (southwest).
In Marseille, the second largest city in France, protesters described by Mayor Benoît Payen as "vandals" briefly stormed the municipal building. “We are storming the Bastille,” one of the demonstrators chanted, referring to the storming of the castle bearing that name during the French Revolution of 1789.
Also in Paris, about 100 demonstrators attacked the headquarters of the C News television channel, owned by conservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré, and threw projectiles at the facade, according to police.
Why are the French demonstrating?
The protests come after weeks of demonstrations started by high school students in late September, demanding improved education conditions and increased spending on schools.
The protest movement was launched from schools in poor suburbs north of Paris, amid complaints of a shortage of teachers and employees, overcrowded classrooms, and deteriorating school buildings.
The protests quickly expanded to include all parts of the country, as students closed the entrances to hundreds of schools, before trade unions and other protest groups joined their movement.
Student demonstrations over the past weeks witnessed violent confrontations with the police, which sparked criticism of the security forces’ methods of dealing with protesters.
A 15-year-old boy lost one of his hands after he picked up a stun grenade during the protests, while the Police Oversight Authority is investigating complaints regarding its members’ use of violence against demonstrators.
A student named Aude, who participated in the Marseille protests, told AFP: “We are here to protest against the weak resources allocated to education, and against police violence.”
Frank, a government employee in his forties who participated in a demonstration in central France, said: “At the end of the month, I have nothing left. Prices are rising, but wages are not rising. We can no longer bear it, we are suffocating.”
These protests come in light of the economic pressures facing France, with the rise in fuel prices and the decline in purchasing power since 2024, coinciding with the government’s efforts to reduce public debt, which is expected to exceed 120 percent of the gross domestic product next year.
The leader of the "Proud France" party, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, announced his support for the student movement, and participated in one of the demonstrations in support of it last Tuesday.
