France counts cost of unrest, Paris tensions flare again

Fresh clashes broke out in Paris on Sunday a day after France suffered one of its worst days of unrest in years, with protests over high prices leaving one demonstrator dead, thousands arrested and shops across the country looted or damaged.

Nationwide demonstrations erupted into riots on Saturday, with a town hall torched, shops ransacked, and buildings covered in graffiti as violent groups clashed with police in cities across the country.

One protester died after a suffering a cardiac arrest during demonstrations in Paris.

Police made more than 2 000 arrests across France, while more than 600 officers were injured, the interior minister said.

“It’s like a war zone here,” said Dutch entrepreneur Tije DeBoer, who had come to Paris with his children to visit a friend and said the protests forced him to evacuate his hotel at Placede la Republique, a trouble hotspot on Saturday.

Police again clashed with protesters and fired tear gas at Place de la Republique on Sunday afternoon, and packs of bikes were set on fire.

A Reuters witness estimated several hundred protesters were in the area.

In Marseille, France’s second largest city, the local prefecture also reported some incidents in the afternoon, with attempts made by groups to break into shops.

More than half a million people joined marches in scores of cities on Saturday, marking the convergence of a month-long student movement with broader social discontent against rising living costs and declining public services.

President Emmanuel Macron will address the nation at 8pm local time (1800 GMT) on Sunday, his office said.

Saturday’s unrest laid bare the deep anger at Macron, who leaves office in 2027 after a decade in power that has increasingly become defined by social discontent, a weak economy and ballooning debt.