On Saturday, about 500,000 people took to the streets across France to protest against the soaring cost of living. This was the culmination of four weeks of protests. Initially peaceful demonstrations turned violent in several cities. Masked crowds attacked law enforcement officers, broke into public buildings and set fires, looted shops, and burned cars, bicycles and electric scooters.
The French government imposed curfews in several towns on Monday night. Authorities announced that several cities, including Paris, Lille and Lyon, would impose partial curfews from Monday night until Tuesday morning to protect business establishments.
The Paris curfew comes into effect at 11pm local time, and demonstrations are banned from 8pm. A curfew was imposed in the Place de la République and Les Halles shopping districts in Paris, with no one allowed to enter or stay in these two areas.
Lille, Douai, Denant and Wattigny in northern France will implement curfews for minors in the next two days, from 8 pm to 6 am the next morning.
Places such as Nice in southern France have implemented curfews, with the city center of Nice imposing a curfew specifically for minors.
French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on Tuesday that new curfews would continue to be imposed in essential areas and did not rule out declaring a state of emergency.
Facing accusations of "failing to foresee and respond to the violence," the French government vowed to restore order and try to calm public anger.
Demonstrators call for more protests
With only six months left until France holds its presidential election, unrest continues to spread. French unions have called for another rally on November 5.
Macron blamed organized far-left groups for Saturday's rioting and looting.
The French government has accused far-left groups of inciting violence in an attempt to boost the chances of far-left radical politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon in the presidential election.
Prime Minister Le Corny said after an emergency cabinet meeting on Monday that he was "determined to do everything possible to restore public order." France's interior minister previously said the police had "lost control."
Le Corni declined to rule out declaring a state of emergency. Once a state of emergency is declared, authorities will be given broad powers to restrict public gatherings.
Second-hand platforms were asked to remove “stolen goods” and more than 2,500 people were arrested
On Monday, French Digital Affairs Minister Anne Le Henanff urged online second-hand trading platforms to remove "stolen items" looted during the riots and convened representatives from several companies, including Vinted and eBay, for talks.
At least 3,000 stores were damaged, with losses amounting to hundreds of millions of euros.
Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said that since the weekend, more than 2,513 people have been detained by police across the country, 67 of whom have been jailed, and dozens of criminal cases have been opened for investigation.
Nearly 1,000 security forces were injured, as were demonstrators, including one whose hand was blown off by a police grenade used for crowd control.
Macron admitted there were mistakes in the government's response to the unrest. A total of 60,000 law enforcement officers were deployed in France on Saturday.
Darmanin said authorities would use facial recognition technology on social media to identify people involved in the violence.
Macron condemned the "unbridled" violence in a nationally televised address on Sunday.
The EU called the violence "unacceptable" but warned that France must protect people's right to peaceful demonstrations.
Violent unrest spreads to other European countries
Demonstrations over rising prices have also occurred in other European countries.
Italy's ANSA news agency reported that days of peaceful protests against the high cost of living in cities such as Milan, Turin and Bologna turned into riots and looting. Prime Minister Meloni convened an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss response plans and consider imposing a curfew.
In the Piazza del Duomo in central Milan, young people wearing black clothes and masks smashed shop windows and robbed supermarkets. Official figures showed that at least 14 security personnel were injured. In total, more than 270 people were detained, most of them minors.
Milan prosecutors described the incident as "a rare level of violence."
Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala said: "I am very worried because this is a new phenomenon - one that originated from the international situation and will continue to grow as a result."
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said on Monday that anti-government demonstrators had crossed a "red line." During previous anti-government demonstrations, a police station was set on fire.
Albanian demonstrators have continued to clash with police since last Tuesday. It comes at the culmination of months of protests over university conditions and political corruption.
Riots broke out again in the capital Tirana on Monday night. Demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails at the Interior Ministry, and riot police responded with water cannon, tear gas and rubber bullets.
According to the local government, about 300 people were injured in the conflict, more than half of them police officers. Police said a total of 68 people were detained during Sunday's riots in Tirana, and 22 of them will face criminal prosecution.
In Belgium, police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse demonstrators in Brussels and Liège.
In Spain, protesters set up tents in central Madrid to decry soaring housing costs.
Similar camping protests were held in the major cities of Lisbon and Porto in neighboring Portugal.
