Nationwide protests in France against high prices and fraying of social security system

Demonstrations have begun across France in what is expected to become a major nationwide protest against high prices and the fraying of a model intended to provide a basic level of opportunity and social security.

Saturday’s mobilisation follows calls on social media to revive the gilets jaunes (yellow vests) movement, which emerged in 2018 against social injustice.

The protests began last month at schools in the poor northern suburbs of Paris, where anger over teacher absences and shabby facilities quickly morphed into a nationwide movement against inequality, weak public spending and falling standards.

The CGT, one of France’s biggest labour unions, has also backed the protests, calling for “higher wages and pensions, lower prices and the protection of public services that meet people’s needs”.

Hundreds of other protests were planned across France, with tens of thousands set to participate. Protesters in hi-vis vests blocked streets, an echo of the unrest that dogged President Emmanuel Macron’s previous term, and in Marseille rubbish bins were set alight.

A large police presence was visible in central Paris, especially near landmarks such as the Avenue des Champs-Élysées and the Arc de Triomphe, which were excluded from the routes of the two official demonstrations. A march is set to begin in the early afternoon at Place de la République, north-east of the city centre.

“We are fighting because the cost of living is too harsh, because the price of fuel is too high, because high school pupils are being violently attacked and hurt all over the country just for trying to protest and ask for more teachers and decent learning conditions,” said a 19-year-old protester in Paris who gave her name as Lola.

Macron is entering the final stretch of his presidency, leaving behind a polarised electorate and a badly fragmented political landscape.

On Friday, the president appealed for calm and respect for people and property as officials warned of possible violence.

“There is a constitutional right to protest and to express oneself, and I have always been vigilant and attentive that that right is fully respected,” he said. “But this right comes with the need to respect. Respect for people, respect for property, and therefore a commitment not to insult or destroy.”

Macron denounced as “unacceptable” the potential presence of people “solely to cause damage and create unrest”.

The interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, said hundreds of protest actions and more than 80 marches were expected nationwide, including spontaneous gatherings, street demonstrations and blockades.

Police banned some other proposed gatherings in central Paris. Many Métro stations were closed on Saturday at the police’s request, including those around the Champs-Élysées and near the presidential palace, parliament and government offices.

In recent weeks, there have been thousands of arrests, hundreds of injuries, and schools set on fire as the new school year descended into nationwide student protests that are influencing the country’s presidential election campaign and drawing international attention.

Among protesters, particularly gruesome wounds suffered by some teenagers have been blamed on police riot-control weapons. Nuñez suspended the use of a type of police stun grenade against the young demonstrators after a 15-year-old lost a hand.

On Tuesday, the climate and social justice activist Greta Thunberg joined students at a school in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis.