Mass protests across France end in clashes and nearly 1,000 arrests

Nearly 1,000 people were arrested in France after another day of mass demonstrations over the rising cost of living and poor school conditions, according to Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez. The protests were largely peaceful during the day, but confrontations later occurred in Paris and several other cities. The Interior Ministry estimated that 410,000 people took part nationwide, including 110,000 in Paris, while trade unions put the national turnout at about 800,000 and the Paris figure at 250,000.

The differing estimates underline the scale of the mobilisation but also reflect the competing assessments of the protest movement’s size. In Paris, clashes erupted after a march from Porte d’Italie towards Porte de Vincennes. Police used tear gas and water cannon, and officers baton-charged masked youths accused of smashing windows at a car dealership.

Some demonstrators built makeshift barricades and threw projectiles at police. Nuñez said that several thousand radical activists had gathered at the back of the march, including about 500 people identified as rioters, according to the Agence France-Presse account cited by the BBC. Authorities had deployed about 70,000 police officers and imposed restrictions in several cities in an effort to prevent a repeat of the disorder seen the previous weekend.

The latest unrest did not reach the level of rioting and looting reported last week. That earlier disorder was described by the BBC as among the worst scenes of its kind in modern French history, with businesses looted and buildings set alight. Hundreds of people have since been jailed for offences including vandalism, arson and looting following fast-track hearings.

In Marseille, rubbish bins and street barriers were burned and a law-enforcement vehicle drove through a burning barricade. In Bordeaux, people in dark clothing and face coverings removed boards from a building to construct a street obstruction. Police in Lyon used tear gas to disperse a crowd that had reportedly gathered in an area declared off-limits by local authorities.

Nuñez said two people had been seriously injured, one in Toulouse and another in Clermont-Ferrand. The BBC also spoke to protesters who described frustration over taxes, poverty, living costs and what they regarded as police violence. One teenage demonstrator said the protests would end when the government responded to their demands.

President Emmanuel Macron had decreed earlier in the week that only demonstrations organised by recognised trade unions would be permitted. A separate rally against the hard-right National Rally in Orléans, involving about 13,000 people, proceeded peacefully. Protests linked to similar concerns also took place elsewhere in Europe.

Al Jazeera reported clashes involving police and demonstrators in France, Italy and Spain. The BBC reported tear gas being used against thousands of anti-government protesters in Tirana, Albania, clashes in Brussels, and a major security operation in Milan involving police and hundreds of soldiers. In Milan, authorities sought to prevent a repeat of the fires, broken windows and looting reported the previous week.