France deploys 70,000 police as new cost-of-living protests grip cities

· Politics · France

France braced for a second weekend of protests over living costs and school conditions, deploying about 70,000 police nationwide and rerouting marches after last week's riots and looting. The Interior Ministry said 410,000 people demonstrated, including 110,000 in Paris, down from 550,000 a week earlier; unions put the figure at about 800,000. Paris was largely calm by day, but police fired tear gas and water cannon after dark, and clashes erupted in cities including Lyon, where protests were banned. Nearly 1,000 people were arrested. Shops and museums, including the Louvre, closed in central Paris. The unrest follows a shooting in the Paris suburbs that Macron condemned as a racist terrorist attack.

Why it matters：France's repeated unrest is straining policing and public finances and testing how European governments handle cost-of-living anger.

Key points

  • About 70,000 police deployed; Interior Ministry counts 410,000 protesters.
  • Paris largely calm by day but tear gas used after nightfall.
  • Nearly 1,000 arrested; Louvre among sites closed.

Sources (original reporting)

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