Tens of Thousands March Across France as Students, Unions and Yellow Vests Join Cost-of-Living Protests
Demonstrations began across France on Saturday in a major nationwide day of action against high prices and a fraying social model, bringing together students, trade unions and remnants of the Yellow Vest movement. Police reported dozens of arrests in Paris as tens of thousands took to the streets.
PARIS — Demonstrations began across France on Saturday in what was expected to become a major nationwide protest against high prices and the fraying of a social model meant to provide a basic level of opportunity and security.
The protests began last month at high schools in Paris’ poor northern suburbs, where anger over teacher absences and shabby facilities quickly grew into a nationwide movement against inequality, weak public spending and falling standards, according to Reuters.
Hundreds of demonstrations were planned across the country, with tens of thousands set to take part. Protesters in hi-vis yellow vests blocked streets in the capital, while in Marseille demonstrators set trash cans alight, Reuters reported.
“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,” a 19-year-old protester in Paris who gave her name as Lola told Reuters.
Heavy police presence in central Paris
A large police presence was visible in central Paris, especially near the Avenue des Champs-Élysées and the Arc de Triomphe, which were excluded from the routes of the two official demonstrations, Reuters reported.
French authorities banned demonstrations in several areas of central Paris, including near the Élysée Palace, Matignon and the Champs-Élysées. CNews, citing the police’s tally, reported that 61 people had been arrested in the Paris metropolitan area by Saturday morning, according to LaPresse. Tensions were also reported in Lyon, where police dispersed several groups of demonstrators, including around 40 people on the Guillotière bridge, and in Marseille.
Police response under scrutiny
The police response to the protests has drawn criticism. One adolescent had his hand blown off after picking up a stun grenade, according to Reuters, and the internal police watchdog is investigating at least two dozen cases of alleged police violence. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has said more than 900 police officers have also been injured since the protests began.
France suspended the use of stun grenades for the student demonstrations, but Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said they could be used on Saturday. “If there were to be clashes, all types of intermediate weapons can be used,” he told Telematin TV on Friday.
The Yellow Vest movement, which began in 2018 as a protest against taxes on diesel before expanding into an outpouring of anger at high living costs and income inequality, has been largely quiet since President Emmanuel Macron agreed to billions of euros in tax cuts. Saturday’s demonstrations suggest remnants of the movement are returning to the streets.
The protests come as Macron enters the final stretch of his presidency, leaving behind a polarized electorate and a fragmented political situation. Investors have been selling French bonds, driving borrowing costs to their highest levels in more than two decades, Reuters reported.
Lecornu said on Thursday that authorities fear unrest during the protests, and the government accused the hard-left France Unbowed party of inflaming the demonstrations, an accusation the party denies.
Reporting based on coverage by Reuters and LaPresse.
