France deployed 70,000 police officers nationwide on Saturday as authorities braced for a fresh wave of protests following last weekend’s violent unrest that saw looting, arson, and clashes with security forces.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the operation would include helicopters, armored vehicles, and water cannons to prevent a repeat of the damage that left around 3,000 businesses ransacked and nearly 1,000 officers injured . Paris shut major museums, including the Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, and Grand Palais, while shopkeepers boarded up windows and removed potential projectiles .
The protests began as a high school movement over underfunded schools and staff shortages but expanded into broader anger over rising living costs and public services . Student leaders emerged from talks with President Emmanuel Macron on Friday dissatisfied, urging continued demonstrations until the government presented concrete proposals .
Local authorities banned some rallies, including in Lyon, Nice, and Montpellier, while Paris permitted only one union-organized march with a modified route . Macron accused “ultra-left” groups of attempting to overthrow the republic, while Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu warned the threat level remained high .
Some Parisians armed themselves with pepper spray and tear gas, and business groups urged retailers to stay closed . The government also announced plans to accelerate a minimum wage increase originally scheduled for January .
