France was rocked by widespread unrest yesterday as violent protesters took to the streets over the rising cost of living, concerns about education standards and opposition to Emmanuel Macron’s government. Police acknowledged that they had struggled to maintain control.
More than 1,200 people were arrested nationwide after major French cities descended into chaos. City halls and prefectures were set alight, while hundreds of businesses were looted during what witnesses described as “apocalyptic riots”.
Terrified residents and desperate shop owners watched as groups of rioters moved from one business to another, smashing their way inside and causing widespread damage.
In Paris, a distressed woman was filmed pleading with protesters not to ransack a supermarket during Saturday’s demonstrations.
The woman can be heard asking, “Why are you doing this?” before shouting, “This is not the cause,” as a group of young men pushed past her and entered the damaged store.
The disturbing footage appears to show the crowd cheering as looters wearing balaclavas emerged from the shop carrying stolen goods.
The supermarket was among scores of buildings and businesses damaged during Saturday’s unrest, when around 550,000 people took part in demonstrations across France.
In south-west France, the historic Limoges Town Hall was engulfed by flames and collapsed after rioters set it alight. The landmark was built in 1883 and had survived both world wars.
A video viewed by 1.4 million people on X showed the historic building’s bell tower surrounded by fire before the structure gave way. The town hall had also played an important role in the French Resistance during the Second World War.
Although police made 1,200 arrests across the country, officers admitted they lacked the manpower needed to respond to the scale of the violence.
A woman pleads with rioters not to loot a shop, asking: “Why are you doing this?”
The iconic Limoges Town Hall, built in 1883 and linked to the French Resistance, was destroyed by fire on Saturday night.
A comic book shop owner was attacked by a looter who launched a flying kick at his back as he tried to protect his business.
The historic Limoges Town Hall, pictured in 2017, was an imposing Neo-Renaissance building that briefly served as the official seat of the Belgian government-in-exile in 1940.
Images taken in daylight show the partially burned facade of Limoges Town Hall after the fire.
Daylight photographs show windows smashed by rioters at an Adidas store in Paris, France.
The woman was pushed aside by looters as she pleaded with them, saying: “This is not the cause.”
“It was apocalyptic,” a senior commander told Le Parisien on Sunday. “Law enforcement was unable to contain the multitude of simultaneous attacks taking place across the country and was quickly overwhelmed by determined protesters.”
The source said several districts had effectively fallen into “the hands of rioters”, adding that officers did not have enough personnel or ammunition to respond.
The “apocalyptic rioting” came after weeks of intense violence, including running battles between groups of agitators and French law enforcement.
Daylight revealed the path of destruction left by protesters in Paris yesterday as the streets were covered in shattered glass and burned vehicles.
Business owners awoke to smashed windows and doors off their hinges with many having seen their produce stolen by looters.
Rioters were even able to break in and ransack municipal police premises, as the emergency services lost their grip on authority.
As blazes were started across the country and Molotov Cocktails were thrown at officers, water cannon, tear gas and baton charges were used to try and end the uprising.
President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron, were accused of acting like the out-of-touch King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette at the start of the 1789 Revolution.
Damages on Boulevard Saint Martin in Paris the day after the demonstration
A city worker cleans the street, the day after clashes during a national day of demonstrations in Marseille
A view inside the municipal police premises, which were vandalized by rioters
A pile of burned motorcycles seen on Boulevard Sebastopol in the French capital
French firefighters examine a broken frontage windows of a shop which has been looted
French restaurant La Barrique seen badly damaged by the mob of rioters on Saturday
The destroyed interior of the restaurant La Barrique near the Place de la Republique in Paris, France
A person walks next to open and scattered Nike shoeboxes on the streets of Marseille
McDonald’s was ransacked by thugs in Paris with damage caused to the ordering tills
A pile of burned debris including bicycles, chairs and metal gates on Boulevard Saint Martin, Paris
The Macrons attended a Céline Dion concert on Friday night, and were seen dancing in a private box.
On Sunday, Mr Macron said: ‘There’s no place for violence in our Republic.
‘Those who have engaged in destruction, attacked government offices and businesses, and even looted our town halls, will be prosecuted and punished.
‘We will stand united against those sowing chaos-people who seek only to tear down our institutions and who prevent others from expressing their grievances peacefully.’
Laurent Nuñez, the Minister of the Interior, highlighted the ‘significant mobilization of the far-Left movement’ within the rioters.
He said these included radical groups such as Antifa, the NPA New Anticapitalist Party, and another called Permanent Revolution.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu also singled out ‘far-Left groups’ for their part in the violence.
He said: ‘Peaceful demonstrations have a rightful place in our Republic. Arson, looting, and attacks do not.
‘Today, far-Left groups orchestrated violence in several French cities – criminals joined in to loot and destroy.’
Protesters clashed with French police as they demonstrated in Nantes, western France, on Saturday
French police push a burning rubbish bin set alight by protesters away in Nantes
A protester holds a placard reading ‘Youth in struggle, system in collapse’ in front of a burning barricade in Paris on Saturday
In turn, Left-wing politicians denied stirring up any trouble, and said paramilitary police units had provoked the crowds.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of France Unbowed (LFI) said too many tear gas canisters had been fired at peaceful demonstrators.
He claimed: ‘It seems that confrontation is the very goal of this public-order strategy. It’s pathetic.’
Marine Tondelier, of the Ecologists party also called on the government to revise its approach to law and order.
She said: ‘When you fail to call on law enforcement to exercise restraint-and, in fact, implicitly encourage the opposite-you end up fueling a surge in tensions.’
Other government sources said the disorder played into the hands of Marine Le Pen, of the far-Right National Rally (RN) party.
She hopes to replace Mr Macron as President in May, when he is forced to stand down having spent two terms as head of state – the maximum allowed.
Ms Le Pen said: ‘Legitimate social grievances have once again been held hostage by the far-Left and the rhetoric of Jean-Luc Melenchon’s MPs – who, by legitimising violence and framing public order as oppression and disorder as a right, are seeking to plunge the country into chaos.’
A protester runs past a burning car amid clashes in Paris on Saturday
Protesters wearing balaclavas and dressed in all black were pictured holding baguettes as they clashed with police on the streets
A man wearing goggles and a balaclava storms past a police van in Nice, southern France
A police officer attempts to extinguish a burning trash bin during a demonstration in Nantes, France
Some of the worst violence was in the eastern city of Lyon, where a tourist office was set on fire by a violent gang.
Youths wearing face masks and hoodies also broke into City Hall in Marseille, where they vandalised a statue of Marianne, the female personification of the French Republic.
There was also fighting on the Place de la République – the Paris square – and close to the Gare du Nord Eurostar hub, where high-speed trains travel to and from London.
It was all part of a nationwide day of action against the cost of living, education and widespread inequality.
There have also been almost five weeks of protests by school and university students against France’s crumbling education system.
They have now been joined by numerous other social groups, including the infamous Yellow Vests – or Gilets Jaunes – which brought chaos to France at the start of Mr Macron’s time in office over a sharp increase in diesel taxes.
In Paris, protesters were seen lobbing baguettes at riot police, as the protests quickly descended into violence.
A tourist office and cars were set on fire by rioters in France, who took to the streets to protest in their hundreds of thousands, including 110,000 in Paris alone.
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A protester wrapped in a French national flag stands in front of Lyon’s tourism office, which was set on fire
A protester throws projectiles at a burning car during a demonstration against rising living costs and cuts to public services in Paris
Protesters flee as tear gas canisters are shot into the crowd by police in Lille
Demonstrators stand on an overturned car during a students’ protest in Brussels, Belgium
A police officer scuffles with a protester in Brussels, Belgium
French police deploy a water cannon against protesters during violence in Paris
Smoke rises as protesters attend a demonstration at Place de la Bourse in Bordeaux
A protester waving a French national flag walks past a fire in Marseille on Saturday morning – as clashes are expected across the country
Students, trade unionists and members of the Gilets Jaunes – Yellow Jackets – are joining forces in nationwide protests on Saturday
The tourism office in Lyon was completely gutted by flames as violence broke out across France
A protester holds a weapon (right) believed to be a paintball pistol outside a police station in Marseille
French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte were spotted at a Celine Dion concert in Paris on Friday night
Police officers push back a line of protesters in Paris on Saturday morning
In Bordeaux, a video circulated on social media showing the upmarket Galeries Lafayette, which had been recently renovated, being stormed by hundreds of protesters.
In other videos, shopworkers were seen watching on helplessly as looters destroyed the aisles and appeared to fill bags with stolen goods.
Sixty law enforcement officers were injured during the clashes in France on Saturday – two of whom were taken to hospital unconscious.
Looting was recorded in cities across France, including Paris, Rouen, Nantes, Toulouse and Marseille.
Many rioters appeared to wield the national symbol of baguettes as weapons, with some dressed in balaclavas and wearing all black, throwing the bread at police as the clashes unravelled.
In the southern city of Saint-Etienne, a protester had his hand blown off by a police crowd-control grenade, a police source has said.
It is the second such incident in recent days. On October 5, a 15-year-old student lost his left hand when a stun grenade exploded outside his school in Lens during protests.
People gather in Paris holding placards as they protest high prices and poor economic and social conditions
Protesters gather at the Place de la Republique in Paris, where they waved the French flag and set off flares
Protesters briefly broke into the town hall in Marseille on Saturday afternoon
People shoot fireworks during protests in Paris – many on the streets wore masks and black hoods to hide their identities
Masked protesters form barricades in the streets of Paris using wooden boards and bins
A car burns during protests at Place de la Republique on Saturday in Paris
Macron had called for calm last night, asking that protesters maintain ‘respect for people and property’.
The President will be forced to stand down in May, after completing the maximum two terms allowed for any French president.
Jordan Bardella, the head of the far-Right National Rally party – which is leading the polls ahead of next year’s presidential election – said he was unsurprised by the clashes.
‘I’m extremely concerned,’ he said. ‘It will be a day of chaos for France.’
His mentor, Marine Le Pen, is hoping to replace Mr Macron as president, if she can reverse a criminal conviction for embezzling money from the European Parliament on appeal.
The protests come at a difficult time for France, as President Emmanuel Macron enters the final stretch of his presidency, leaving behind a polarised electorate and a fragmented domestic political situation.
Investors ditching French debt, driving borrowing costs to their highest levels in more than two decades, have also underlined the country’s long struggle to get its public finances in order.
The police have also drawn criticism for their response after reports of serious injuries sustained by protesters, including one 15-year-old who had his hand blown off after picking up a police stun grenade, and a 16-year-old who was blinded by a rubber bullet.
A fire is seen on the streets of Marseille, France as protests continued throughout the day
Protesters block roads during a demonstration near to the Gare du Nord in Paris
Riot police in Marseille hold shields covered in paint thrown by activists
Protesters flee tear gas in Marseille as thousands gathered in the city
French riot police stand in position next to a water cannon amid clashes with protesters during a demonstration against the cost of living and rising fuel prices at the Place de la Republique
Flames and smoke engulf the sky in Marseille
Tear gas canisters fired by police in Marseille saw protesters scatter
Protesters damage a police station in Marseille amid nationwide protests
Bins are set alight in Paris – more than 160 arrests had been made by mid-morning on Saturday across France
Large swathes of peaceful protests also took place including in the Place de la Republique
An officer was charged with aggravated violence on Tuesday after allegedly firing the bullet at the student in Tours, France, on September 30. The family of the injured pupil have blamed the force.
The internal police watchdog is investigating at least two dozen cases of alleged police violence. France suspended the use of stun grenades for the student demonstrations, but Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said they could be used in Saturday’s protest.
‘If there were to be clashes, all types of intermediate weapons can be used,’ he told Telematin on Friday.
Calls on social media for members of past protest movements to join the fray appear to have worked, raising questions about just how large the protests could grow.
The Yellow Vest movement started in 2018 as a protest against taxes on diesel before morphing into an outpouring of anger at high living costs and income inequality. However, things have been largely quiet since Macron agreed to billions of euros in tax cuts.
Yannick Maillou, a teacher from La Crèche in western France, joined the Yellow Vests in 2018 and remains involved in the movement. He said there were several nearby meeting points for protesters to gather on Saturday, with unions also calling on their members to join.
‘Groups of people providing medical assistance are forming in anticipation of police violence,’ he said.
Myrtil Devillers, another Yellow Vest protester, said he was sympathetic to the protesters’ ‘explosive catch-all of grievances’ although he won’t be protesting on Saturday as he is abroad.
‘I was a Yellow Vest protester when petrol cost €1.40 a litre, so imagine how I feel now that it’s €2.20,’ he said.
‘The justice system is complaining; the education system is complaining; the healthcare sector is complaining; my friends who run businesses are complaining.’
French police intervene during protests against rising living costs, high fuel prices and government education reforms in Paris
Officers on motorbikes are seen in Paris as they respond to protests around the city
A protester throws fireworks during protests in Bordeaux, France
A protester is detained by police officers during a demonstration in Toulouse
Elsewhere in Europe, copycat protests also took hold on the streets of Italy and Belgium.
A rally against the cost of living took place in Milan, Italy, which saw numerous clashes with police.
Italian police fired tear gas at Italian protesters in the square in front of Milan’s Gothic cathedral, after rioters allegedly threw stones at cops, France 24 reported.
Protesters in Milan also gathered in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II – a luxury shopping centre. Shop owners put down their shutters and tourists appeared to flee the central area as the clashes turned violent, with the central Duomo metro station being temporarily closed.
Several people were reported to be injured and a number of arrests were made, according to Italian media.
Meanwhile, in Brussels, demonstrators were seen standing on an overturned car during a students’ protest in Belgium, inspired by the protests in France.
Several hundred people, mostly of a younger demographic, took to the streets of the capital on Saturday.
They also clashed with police as they protested against rising education costs and reforms which many believe could make higher education less accessible.
