Clashes, Fires and Looting Mark Nationwide French Protests Over Living Costs and School Conditions

On Saturday evening, thick black smoke was still rising over central Paris, where cars, bicycles, other vehicles and trash bins were burning and a newspaper kiosk had gone up in flames. In the Place de la République, northeast of the city center, police fired tear gas and water cannons at people in hoods and masks who were throwing fireworks, paving stones and other objects at officers. Several shops were looted, and several people were injured.

The unrest broke out during a day of marches across France against rising living costs and poor conditions in schools. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said 110 marches drew about 550,000 people. Organizers, including the CGT labor union and student organizations, put the figure at about 800,000. Nuñez said about 400 people were arrested nationwide, most of them adults.

Nuñez blamed "extremely violent, radical far-left groups" that he said went looking for confrontations with police and targeted public buildings, including city halls and local government offices. He said those groups had been joined by offenders ready to loot shops. President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X that there is no place for violence in the Republic, and that those who vandalized property, attacked government offices and businesses, and looted town halls would be prosecuted and punished.

The damage reached well beyond the capital. In Lyon, where about 20,000 people marched, a fire broke out inside a tourist office. In Marseille, some shops and a municipal police station were damaged, and protesters briefly forced their way into the City Hall lobby. Nuñez reported attacks by masked groups on local government buildings in Bordeaux, break-in attempts at the city halls of Lille and Calais and at a police station in Brest, and violence in Rennes, Toulouse, Montpellier and Grenoble. In Limoges, a middle-sized town in central France, the City Hall was set on fire, and flames were still raging that evening. In Paris, many metro stations were closed at police request, including those near the Champs-Elysées, the presidential palace, parliament and government offices.

Most demonstrators, though, were peaceful. In Paris, the majority joined a march toward the northwest of the city, singing the national anthem and waving flags, with some playing trumpets and violins. Many wore the fluorescent yellow vests that symbolized the 2018 movement against social injustice, which social media calls had urged people to revive. Gasoline, energy and food prices have spiked in recent months.

Sonia Mabrouk, 40, came from a suburb west of Paris with her high-school-age daughter. A veteran of the yellow vest protests, she said she was marching against "everything that's going wrong," especially neglect of public services, and criticized policies that favor the rich and hit the poorest in their wallets. "There's a general sense of frustration and anger," she said. The CGT called for higher wages and pensions, lower prices and protection of public services. Student groups, who have blockaded schools since mid-September, urged supporters to join, and far-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who has backed the high school movement, marched in Paris.

Policing is also under scrutiny. In Saint-Etienne, a young protester was badly injured and lost a hand, and authorities opened an investigation. French media reported a police grenade explosion caused the injury; Nuñez declined to confirm that. In recent weeks France has seen thousands of arrests, hundreds of injuries and schools set on fire as the new school year turned into nationwide student protests, now shaping the presidential campaign. Nuñez suspended one type of police stun grenade against high school demonstrators after a 15-year-old lost a hand, but that suspension does not cover other protests, including Saturday's.

What to watch next is whether Macron's promised prosecutions follow, and what the Saint-Etienne investigation finds about the cause of the injury.