Paris braced for a fresh march by students and workers over school funding and soaring living costs on Saturday
PARIS — Paris braced for a fresh march by students and workers over school funding and soaring living costs on Saturday, one week after violent unrest left shops looted and cars burned. The new march was restricted to the city's southeastern edge, away from the centre, as police deployed in force across France.
Scenes of looting, burned-out cars and attacks on public buildings left the impression that the government had lost control, as groups of masked vandals targeted businesses in Paris and other city centres.
Police imposed the new route Friday between Porte d'Italie and Porte de Vincennes, replacing the planned march from Bastille to Nation.
The movement began last month over staff shortages at one high school southeast of Paris. It now reaches well beyond the classroom. Students want more teachers, better school buildings and more university places. Unions are demanding higher wages and pensions to help people meet the cost of living.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said as many as 70,000 officers will be deployed nationwide, along with helicopters, armoured vehicles and water cannons. In central Paris, a few dozen gendarmes were stationed beneath the Arc de Triomphe and along the nearby avenues.
A massive turnout is expected again after more than half a million took to the streets last week.
Museums are closed, and shopkeepers are worried
Major museums, including the Louvre, Orsay Museum, Picasso Museum and Grand Palais -- where a major Cézanne exhibit is on display -- are closed Saturday. Art Basel, one of the world's most prestigious contemporary art fairs, opened to the public Friday, but only for the day, with the threat of unrest prompting organisers to cancel the weekend program.
Parisian shopkeepers have been barricading their stores all week. Near the Saint-Lazare train station, Akram Ahmed, a 34-year-old contractor, was boarding up an optician's shop.
“I got the call last night,” he said. “The owner seemed desperate. He said I was saving his life.”
Following the unrest, Paris police prefect Patrice Faure urged Parisian shopkeepers to hire security guards. He later clarified that protecting business owners and their establishments is the responsibility of the government.
Some 3,000 shops across France were damaged or looted last weekend.
Some protests have been banned
Protest marches are scheduled in Paris and Marseille, but some other rallies, including in Lyon, Nice and Montpellier, have been banned by local authorities. In Lyon, French media reported that police used tear gas Saturday morning.
Cities outside Paris were hit hard by the unrest. Two suspects in the fire that nearly destroyed Limoges' 19th-century city hall were placed under formal investigation and held pending trial, French media reported. The probe includes the attempted murder of a public official.
Trade unions have criticised the bans, calling them violations of freedom of expression, which is protected by the constitution.
President Emmanuel Macron, a centrist, has entered the crisis in the final stretches of his term, with his popularity at its lowest since he took office in 2017. He has said that the measures are needed to protect city centres, businesses and public buildings.
Thousands of people gathered Saturday morning for an anti-far-right protest in the city of Orléans, about 110 kilometres (70 miles) south of Paris. It was organised on the sidelines of a two-day congress of Marine Le Pen's nationalist, anti-immigration party ahead of next spring's presidential election.
Students and workers are angry
Student groups want 250,000 more places in higher education and an end to selection through Parcoursup, the national admissions system. Their joint 10-point plan also calls for more teachers and repairs to schools and universities.
They are also seeking help with everyday costs: an extra 200 euros a month in student grants and a rent freeze in public student housing.
High school students have raised concerns about underfunded schools and staff shortages, particularly in lower-income neighbourhoods. Some also called for a reform of the university admissions system, seen by many as unfair.
With the government seemingly unable to respond to students' demands, the movement has morphed into larger protests over soaring living costs, just months before the vote to choose Macron's successor.
“The money is now concentrated in the hands of very few people," said Victoria Ambrosini, an art critic and art teacher at Saint-Denis University. “And it's not possible anymore.”