Police clash with masked rioters as third wave of French protests draws 320,000

The interior ministry said 320,000 people participated in demonstrations across the country, including 70,000 in Paris, down from an estimated 410,000 last weekend.

The protests, which began in mid-October with school students demanding better conditions, have since expanded to include trade unions and the Yellow Vest movement. This weekend's rallies brought together school students, trade unions and gilets jaunes united in anger at rising costs, widening inequalities and the government of President Emmanuel Macron.

In Paris, 70,000 protesters marched along boulevards on the south-eastern outskirts, avoiding the city centre. As the march reached its end point, dozens of masked people dressed in black used hammers to pry up paving stones and hurl them at police, and at least one incendiary device was thrown, French media reported. Police responded with teargas and baton charges. The Paris police prefecture described a hardcore of several hundred rioters attacking officers with projectiles including a molotov cocktail.

In Marseille, footage showed fires burning in the streets as firefighters responded. Clashes were also reported in Rennes and Toulouse. In Lyon, protesters threw projectiles at police, prompting officers to fire teargas, and in Toulouse police used water cannon against an unauthorised protest of mostly young demonstrators.

The interior ministry said the marches proceeded smoothly within the declared demonstrations but noted that radical elements in several cities had attempted to enter city centres with the aim of carrying out vandalism and looting. More than 290 arrests were made nationwide, according to police.

Among those on the Paris march, Jérôme Rodrigues said: 'The French economy is doing badly no matter what happens, because today we're being run by a group of incompetents who juggle billions while families are struggling with a few cents.'

In Nantes, Camille Guérin said: 'We say no to the cost of living, no to the far right, yes to high school students' demands, yes to giving citizens a voice.'

Student protesters vowed to stage new high school and university blockades on Tuesday and Thursday. 'Then we will join the 5 November demonstration called by workers and trade unions,' said Sabrine Kharbach of the Union Étudiante.

Protests also took place elsewhere in Europe. In Germany, police fired water cannon to disperse a crowd in Cologne after saying protesters had targeted officers with fireworks, while youth-led demonstrations organised by a group called Gen Z regelt! also took place in Berlin, where protesters hurled bottles and eggs. In Spain, an anonymous TikTok network called Blocus urged new gatherings, and Italy saw recent clashes in Milan, Turin and Bologna.