France endured its worst unrest in years this weekend as nationwide protests over high living costs and declining public services turned violent ahead of a key government vote on the budget.
Demonstrations erupted into riots on Saturday, with almost 2,400 people arrested, shops looted or damaged and buildings covered in graffiti as violent groups clashed with police in cities across the country, according to the interior ministry. Nearly 1,000 police officers and gendarmes were injured, the ministry said.
President Emmanuel Macron, whose final months in office are increasingly defined by mounting political, fiscal and social discontent, ordered a review of whether there had been failings in intelligence gathering or police preparedness, and asked the government to bring together students, teachers, lawmakers, unions and business leaders this week to produce "concrete proposals" to address the crisis.
The unrest comes as Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu's minority government seeks €54 billion ($61 billion) of fiscal savings in its 2027 budget as he tries to narrow the country's growing deficit. The National Assembly is due to hold a formal vote on the first part of the bill on Tuesday.
France has in recent years struggled to rein in spending and a debt burden that has ballooned to a record €3.6 trillion in the second quarter, reaching 119% of GDP, and is becoming increasingly expensive to service as interest rates spike across the world.
About 550,000 people marched in scores of cities Saturday, including 110,000 in Paris, according to authorities. The latest wave of demonstrations followed a month-long student movement over teacher shortages and school conditions, with broader anger from unions. While hundreds of thousands protested peacefully, violent fringe groups targeted public buildings, looted shops and attacked police.
In a televised address Sunday evening, Macron said: "Looking at these images, we have all asked ourselves: What was going through their minds? How can French people do this to France?"
"Nothing justifies it, nothing explains it, nothing excuses it," he said, pledging an "uncompromising" response to "agitators from ultra-left fringe groups, joined by numerous delinquents."
He stopped short of declaring a state of emergency or imposing a curfew, but said prefects and mayors would be allowed to ban certain gatherings where necessary to protect public buildings and local businesses.
The 143-year-old town hall in Limoges, in central France, was set ablaze and largely destroyed after looters broke the window in an arson attack. "There was a clear, premeditated intention to burn down the town hall, and the people inside feared for their lives," shaken Mayor Guillaume Guérin told Reuters on Sunday. Protesters forced their way into Marseille's city hall, and a tourist office in Lyon was set ablaze.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said Sunday that several hundred shops sustained considerable material damage, and Bordeaux Mayor Thomas Cazenave said up to 100 stores there were looted.
One protester died of cardiac arrest during demonstrations in Paris, police said in a statement, without providing further details. Police fired tear gas and stun grenades Sunday afternoon to break up the rally at Place de la République in Paris, and bicycles were set on fire.
The country's economy minister Roland Lescure has vowed government support for business owners who have suffered losses from the riots. "Those who break things will pay, repair the damage and be held accountable for their intention to sow chaos," Reuters reported, citing a statement.
Far-right opposition leader Marine Le Pen, frontrunner for next year's presidential campaign, said the troubles showed that Macron's government is "running on fumes, exhausted and disoriented." Far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who is also running for president, said Macron needed to answer the demands of protesting high-school students, and the country could be heading toward "events that will eventually become uncontrollable."