France counts the cost of its worst unrest in years as nearly 1,800 are arrested

France was cleaning up on Sunday after a day of nationwide demonstrations against rising living costs and poor conditions in schools turned into some of the most destructive street violence the country has seen in years.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said close to 1,800 people had been detained across the country after Saturday's protests, with almost half of the arrests made in Paris. More than 500 police officers, gendarmes and firefighters were hurt, he said. Paris police also reported that one person died of a heart attack, and prosecutors in the capital have opened an inquiry.

Turnout and damage

Officials put Saturday's turnout at about 550,000 people nationwide, while unions and organisers claimed around 800,000. The movement began in mid-September with school students protesting about crowded classrooms and teacher shortages, and has since widened into anger over prices, fuel costs and public spending.

Most marchers were peaceful, but masked groups set fires, smashed shop fronts and targeted public buildings. In the central city of Limoges, a blaze gutted much of the 19th-century city hall and brought down its roof; the local prefect said the fire was started deliberately. Shops were looted in Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Bordeaux, and a group briefly forced its way into Marseille's city hall before being pushed out.

Government response

Macron held an emergency meeting with senior ministers on Sunday before addressing the nation. He said those responsible for looting would be made to pay for the damage and blamed what he described as insurrectionist elements from the radical far left, joined by criminals. Nunez said that protesting was a fundamental right, but that deliberately causing disorder through violence was not.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, who is pursuing deficit reduction through spending restraint and tax measures, also blamed far-left groups. Left-wing leader Jean-Luc Melenchon, who joined the Paris march, accused the government of fuelling the anger, while far-right figures Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella condemned the rioters. Rights lawyers have separately raised concerns about serious injuries linked to police crowd-control tactics during weeks of school protests.

Why it matters

The unrest comes months before France's presidential election next spring, and the political fight over who is to blame has already begun. For Indian readers, it is another sign of how high energy prices, worsened this year by disruption to Gulf shipping, are straining household budgets and governments far beyond the Middle East.