Protesters blocked roads and lit fires in Paris and other parts of France today despite bursts of tear gas, putting pressure on President Emmanuel Macron, turning new Prime Minister Sebastien Le Cornouaille's first day into a baptism of fire for him.
Hundreds of people have been arrested during demonstrations against Macron, austerity measures and other government decisions. Clashes have spread to large and small cities across France.
Groups of protesters who repeatedly tried to block the Paris ring road were dispersed by police using tear gas.
Elsewhere in Paris, protesters piled up trash cans and threw whatever they could at police. Firefighters were called to the scene of a fire at a restaurant in the Chatelet neighborhood in the city center, where thousands of protesters had gathered.
The government said police made 473 arrests across the country, including 203 in Paris, that 339 were detained, and that 13 police officers were slightly injured.
There were 812 protests across the country - 550 rallies, 262 blockades and 267 fires in the streets. Tensions were rising in Rennes, Nantes and Paris after police officers were attacked there.
The Interior Ministry estimated the turnout at 175.000 people, while the CGT union, one of France's largest labor confederations, put the figure at close to a quarter of a million.
Roadblocks, traffic slowdowns and other protests ranged from the southern port city of Marseille to Lille and Cannes in the north, through Nantes and Rennes in the west, to Grenoble and Lyon in the southeast.
PHOTO: From protests across France
Authorities also reported demonstrations in small towns.
The afternoon gatherings of thousands of people in central Paris were peaceful and without outbursts of anger, with banners against Macron and his new prime minister.
"Lecornu, you are not welcome," read a banner held by a group of students, while another read "Macron exploded."
Although it fell short of its goal of "blocking everything," the protest movement that began over the summer on social media ignited wider pockets of unrest. The massive deployment of 80.000 police officers to break down barricades and make swift arrests didn't help either.
Interior Minister Bruno Retayo said a bus was set on fire in the western city of Rennes.
In the southwest, a fire damaged electrical cables and stopped trains.
The protest, called "Block Everything," seemed less intense than previous waves of unrest that rocked Macron during both of his presidential terms.
The national demonstrations of the so-called "yellow vests" against economic injustice in 2018-2019 lasted for months.
After his re-election in 2022, Macron faced new waves of heated anger over unpopular pension reforms. This was followed by riots and riots across France in 2023 after police shot dead a teenager on the outskirts of Paris.
The latest demonstrations are fueling the atmosphere of crisis that has gripped France again after the latest government collapse two days ago. Then, Prime Minister Francois Bayroux lost the confidence of Parliament in a vote of deputies after he advocated for a major cut in public spending - by 44 billion euros to reduce the enormous national debt.
The protests are a challenge to Bayrou's successor, Lecornu, installed today.
A prolonged cycle of political instability in France, with Macron's minority governments falling and bouts of successive crises, has fueled widespread discontent.
Russian Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, who is under investigation in France for alleged criminal activity on the messaging app, said today that he was proud that the platform was used to organize rallies against Macron.
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