France’s Interior Ministry estimated that 410,000 people participated in the nationwide protests, while trade unions put the figure at twice that number.
The largest demonstration took place on the southeastern outskirts of Paris, attracting at least 110,000 people. Protesters condemned rising living costs and growing inequality, while clashes broke out in several cities despite a major security operation aimed at preventing a repeat of the previous week’s unrest.
After the Paris rally ended, riot police fired tear gas and used water cannon against a group of around 500 hooded youths. The group eventually dispersed amid cold and rainy weather.
In Marseille, young demonstrators set fire to rubbish bins to block roads and threw rocks and bottles at security forces. Police said several shops, including two jewellery stores, were looted.
Clashes were also reported in Lyon, Bordeaux, Grenoble, Clermont-Ferrand, Lille, Rennes, Nantes and Toulouse.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said groups considered high-risk had separated from the main demonstrations and attempted to carry out acts of violence. He accused far-left activists and criminal gangs of seeking to provoke disorder.
Authorities deployed 70,000 police officers and gendarmes nationwide, 10,000 more than during the previous week’s protests, after admitting that they had underestimated the scale of the unrest on October 17.
Nunez said the violence was less severe than during the previous weekend, when looters and vandals caused widespread damage. He attributed the improvement partly to better preparation by security forces.
He also said far-right activists had attempted to provoke confrontations with left-wing groups in the southern cities of Nice and Montpellier, raising concerns about further clashes.
Much of central Paris resembled a city under lockdown, with shopkeepers boarding up storefronts, museums closing and more than 20 metro stations shut.
Business organisations urged retailers to remain closed after thousands of shops and businesses were damaged or looted during the previous weekend’s unrest.
Oskar, manager of a Kiton boutique in Paris, said there were too few customers to justify keeping the shop open.
Several major cultural attractions, including the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay and the Paris Opera, also closed as a precaution, leaving tourists disappointed.
Xavier Dolliole, a visitor from New Orleans in the United States, said the boarded-up shops had left tourists uncertain about where to go.
The unrest began last month with small student demonstrations in Paris suburbs over school conditions. It subsequently developed into a broader movement against the government’s economic policies and inspired protests in neighbouring European countries.
In Belgium, police used tear gas and pepper spray during clashes with anti-government demonstrators in Brussels on Saturday. Protests also took place in several Italian cities for a second consecutive weekend, as well as in Albania.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the left-wing France Unbowed party, joined the Paris demonstration and predicted that protests would continue until President Emmanuel Macron addressed the country’s growing social discontent.
Macron’s presidential mandate expires next year. Mélenchon warned that the demonstrations could become a weekly occurrence if the government failed to respond to public concerns.
Many protesters accused the authorities of overreacting to the previous week’s violence. Soldiers were deployed to patrol the Champs-Élysées, the famous Paris boulevard lined with luxury shops and restaurants.
Clara Lebbadi, a 22-year-old arts student, criticised what she described as the emphasis on protecting businesses while people struggled financially.
She said she and a friend had considered staying away because of safety concerns but decided to attend to oppose what they viewed as government repression.
The first authorised march on Saturday passed peacefully in Orléans, about 120 kilometres south of Paris, where demonstrators protested against the far-right National Rally party, which was holding its congress in the city.
Tensions were also heightened by a shooting west of Paris on Friday. A suspected gunman motivated by Islamophobic hatred killed one person and wounded four others, including a 12-year-old girl, according to reports.
Bally Bagayoko, the mayor of Saint-Denis and a member of Mélenchon’s France Unbowed party, said demonstrators had gathered to confront the far right and show that they were not afraid.
