Clashes erupted between police and protesters in cities across France on Saturday as tens of thousands of people took to the streets to protest rising living costs and declining public services, in some of the country’s most violent demonstrations in years.
The Interior Ministry said 272 people had been arrested by mid-afternoon following violent incidents involving hooded individuals in several cities, including Paris, Marseille in the south, Toulouse in the southwest, Angers in the west and Lyon in east-central France, according to Reuters.
Protesters said most demonstrators had taken part in peaceful rallies, blaming much of the violence on troublemakers who allegedly sought to cause damage and confront the police.
The Interior Ministry, however, said the violence was escalating, citing clashes with law enforcement, looting and attempted looting of shops, as well as attacks on and damage to public buildings. It blamed the unrest on groups it described as the “ultra-left”.
Police in parts of Paris fired tear gas as they retreated in the face of predominantly young protesters, many dressed in black and wearing hoodies, masks and goggles to shield themselves from the gas.
Some tourists at a high-end department store near the Paris Opera were seen coughing and spluttering after being caught in clouds of tear gas, while nearby shops hurriedly closed their doors. Several shop and restaurant windows across the capital were smashed, while cars and rubbish bins were set ablaze.
Police in parts of Paris occasionally fired tear gas as they retreated from mostly young protesters, many dressed in black and wearing hoodies, masks and goggles to protect themselves from the gas.
Some tourists at a high-end department store near the Paris Opera were seen coughing and spluttering after being caught in clouds of tear gas, while nearby shops hurriedly shut their doors. Windows of several shops and restaurants across the capital were smashed, while cars and rubbish bins were set ablaze.
In Lyon, protesters set fire to the city’s tourist office.
In Marseille, the mayor said the town hall had been vandalised and that additional police officers were being deployed to the city following discussions with the government.
Meanwhile, several hundred people, mostly young demonstrators, took to the streets of Brussels on Saturday in protests partly inspired by the unrest in France. Some protesters clashed with police.
Belgian student groups said the demonstrations were driven by rising education costs and proposed reforms they fear could make higher education less accessible.
The protests in France began last month in high schools across the poor northern suburbs of Paris, where frustration over teacher shortages and inadequate facilities grew into a broader movement against inequality, public spending policies and declining living standards.
“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 Lola, a 19-year-old protester in Paris.
Protesters wearing high-visibility vests blocked roads, evoking the Yellow Vest movement that marked an earlier period of President Emmanuel Macron’s presidency.
Macron, who called for calm on Friday, is approaching the final stretch of his presidency amid a fragmented political landscape and mounting economic pressures.
