More than 100,000 rally across France in new Yellow Vest protests

More than 100,000 people have taken to the streets in France in another round of cost-of-living rallies organised by the “Yellow Vests” and various youth movements.

Saturday’s protests saw a decline in turnout compared with previous weekends and stayed largely calm, authorities said.

The Ministry of the Interior reported that 106,000 people took part in protests nationwide, including 24,000 in Paris – down from 146,000 people nationwide and 46,000 in Paris last week. Student unions place Saturday’s protest numbers higher, at 200,000 people, including almost 100,000 in the capital.

The country has been gripped by high-school blockades, mass demonstrations, and strikes for more than a month, with protesters rallying against falling educational standards, cost-of-living increases, low wages, and police violence.

A number of demonstrators also carried signs targeting President Emmanuel Macron, who has faced significant criticism from protesters.

Some rallies in recent weeks have seen violence at the fringes, and the first major protest on October 17 saw looting in cities across France. Since then, police presence at rallies and controls on transport and permits to protest have been expanded.

Marseille, France’s second-largest city, banned protests over the weekend, but the prefecture announced that some 3,500 people still took to the streets. Local media reported that tear gas and a water cannon were used against protesters and shared images of fires burning in a popular local square.

In Lyon, local media reported that roughly 8,000 people took to the streets. They shared images of masked protesters chanting in front of fires lit in the street and police charging and using tear gas.

Tear gas use was also reported in Nantes, Bordeaux and Paris.

More protests planned

Unions have called for a new day of strikes on Tuesday after rejecting a government promise to increase the minimum wage by 0.6 percent as “crumbs”.

If the demonstrations go ahead, they will take place on the eighth anniversary of the Gilet Jaune – which translates to “Yellow Vest” in French – movement, which rocked the beginning of the Macron government in 2018 with two years of protests triggered by rising fuel prices.

On Tuesday, the Yellow Vests will “celebrate their eight years where it all started: on roundabouts and toll booths all over France”, Yellow Vest protest tracking website 17octobregiletjaune.net writes.