Emmanuel Macron in Marseille: the president expects "a risky day" on Saturday and announces that the next routes for authorized demonstrations will be outside city centers

A surprise visit. Emmanuel Macron arrived in Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône), late in the morning, Monday October 26 to witness the "return of republican order" after the violence and looting which punctuated the citizen mobilization of October 17. Asked about the numbers deployed that day, the head of state acknowledged "that in Marseille as elsewhere, there were not enough law enforcement officers" deployed. “We didn’t anticipate what was going to happen,” he added. “Next Saturday is another risky day,” he continued, assuring that “we will continue to have plans for declared mobilizations, which will take place outside city centers so that the demonstrations can take place peacefully.”

The town hall vandalized on the sidelines of the mobilization of October 17. Emmanuel Macron was welcomed in the town hall located on the Old Port, which still bears traces of it, such as an anarchist circled "A" spray-painted on a wall, a broken window, or a bust of Marianne chipped when it had been knocked to the ground. On October 17, several dozen demonstrators briefly entered the hall of Marseille town hall, after breaking down the door and shouting "It's the Revolution, we're taking the Bastille." Demonstrators also broke windows and threw smoke bombs into the Marseille municipal police station, and stores were vandalized.

Benoit Payan calls for “accounts” from the State. The day after the damage, the various left-wing mayor Benoît Payan, requested an "exceptional compensation fund for Marseille traders", in a message on X. Following the visit of the Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez, he estimated the amount of damage at 28 million. “I will be reimbursed to the nearest euro,” he then assured.

Emmanuel Macron criticized after the excesses. The head of state had been personally criticized by the opposition, but also by several figures in his camp, for the management of maintaining order nine days ago and for maintaining his tour in the Gulf at the start of last week. Since then, he has been on the front line, increasing the number of meetings, on maintaining order, then on Friday with the high school unions, and travel.