PARIS — Mass protests spread across France on Saturday as high school and university students, trade unionists and veterans of the “yellow vest” movement marched against high prices, inequality and a crumbling school system, with police firing tear gas during clashes in Paris and Marseille, DW reported.
Organizers listed hundreds of rallies around the country, and a police source told AFP that authorities expected nearly 200,000 people. Paris police banned demonstrations around the Élysée Palace, the prime minister’s office and the Champs-Élysées. BBC News reported more than 160 arrests across France on Saturday.
The movement began in mid-September at a high school in the Paris suburb of Créteil over dilapidated buildings, overcrowded classrooms and teacher shortages, and has since spread to thousands of lycées, Al Jazeera reported. Authorities say more than 900 police officers have been injured since it began, while more than 6,700 minors have been taken into custody, according to reports cited by Al Jazeera.
Two cases have galvanized critics of the police response: a 15-year-old in Lens lost a hand to a stun grenade, and a 16-year-old in Tours lost his sight after being hit by a rubber bullet.
“This is a moment of fatigue in the country,” Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said Thursday. “We are in an atmosphere of perma-crisis: wars, inflation and issues surrounding purchasing power.” President Emmanuel Macron appealed for “calm and respect” on the eve of the protests.
The unrest comes as Lecornu’s government pushes a 2027 budget of spending restraint, including a public-sector pay freeze, after a deficit of 152.5 billion euros last year — 5.1% of GDP. Far-right National Rally leader Jordan Bardella, who leads polls ahead of next year’s presidential election, predicted “a day of chaos for France.”
Sources: DW, Al Jazeera, CBC News
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