Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets across France on Saturday, October 17, to protest against rising living costs, run-down schools and cuts to public services, with demonstrations turning violent in several cities. Smaller protests over living costs also took place in Belgium, Italy and Portugal, and students rallied again in Albania.

In France, about 550,000 people took part, according to the interior ministry. The CGT union put the figure at 800,000. More than 1,200 people were arrested and more than 150 police officers were hurt. Shops were looted in Paris, the city hall in Limoges was largely destroyed by fire, protesters broke into the town hall in Marseille, and police fired tear gas in several cities.

French police clashed with protesters and rioters across France on Saturday as around 550,000 people joined nationwide protests, including 110,000 in Paris.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu blamed the “ultra-left” and criminals for the violence. Reuters described the day as some of the worst violence in France for decades. ‘We’re taking the bastille’Most protests began around midday, Reuters said. In Paris, a peaceful march near Place de la République turned violent. Masked rioters in black threw fireworks and paving stones, attacked a bank and looted a sports shop while police fired tear gas. “We’re taking the Bastille!” one demonstrator shouted. This is the moment a town hall collapsed as protests sweep across France.

The 140-year-old town hall in the French city of Limoges caught fire during protests in the city Read the latest on the Sky News website and app::// Protesters set bins on fire, and a lorry was burned. Flames spread to a nearby building. On Boulevard Magenta, in a mostly working-class area north of the square, dozens of shops were looted. Groups tried to get into the Galeries Lafayette department store, vandalised banks, ransacked a Lacoste shop and looted a mobile phone shop. Residents closed their windows and doors as tear gas rose to roof level. Paris mayor Emmanuel Grégoire said whole streets “have been devastated”.

In Limoges, masked protesters set fire to the city hall. The local prefect, Maurice Barate, told AFP the roof had fallen onto the lower floors and two-thirds of the outside wall was gone. He called the loss of the 143-year-old building a “catastrophe for heritage”.

In Marseille, protesters rammed the town hall door with security barriers taken from the street and got inside for a short time. One of them spray-painted an “A”, for anarchy, on a wall before police removed them. In Lyon, protesters set fire to the city’s tourist office, Reuters said.

‘We will not let ourselves be intimidated’ Lecornu said the government would not give way to the violence. “We will not let ourselves be intimidated,” he wrote on X. He said some people wanted to use the unrest as a “warm-up” before next year’s presidential election.

Faire porter aux chefs de la police la responsabilité des violences, c’est une inversion dangereuse et cynique des responsabilités.

Vous appelez celles et ceux qui partagent votre combat à ne pas participer aux pillages. Commencez donc par désigner clairement les responsables, c’est-à-dire ceux qui pillent et qui saccagent. On ne peut pas appeler à cesser les violences tout en fournissant des excuses à ceux qui les commettent. C’est VOTRE responsabilité politique.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the official march had been taken over by “opportunistic delinquents” who saw a chance to loot. He said the state did not plan to declare a state of emergency, but that he “very strongly” condemned the violence.

President Emmanuel Macron said he would see the attackers prosecuted and punished. He said the country would stand united against the “sowers of chaos”. On Friday, he had asked for calm and said the right to protest comes with a duty of “respect for people, respect for property”.

The far left and the far right both tried to gain from the unrest, The Guardian said. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the far-left France Unbowed party, urged protesters to stay away from looting, which he said was “contrary to our methods”. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen condemned the rioters and said Mélenchon’s party had “legitimised the violence”. ‘The cost of living is too harsh’The protests began last month at high schools in poor northern suburbs of Paris, where anger over teacher shortages and run-down buildings grew into a wider movement over inequality, public spending and living standards.

Calls on social media to revive the gilets jaunes (yellow vests) movement of 2018 helped to bring more people out on Saturday. Some protesters wore high-visibility vests and blocked streets.

The CGT, one of France’s biggest unions, has backed the protests and called for higher wages and pensions and lower prices. The interior ministry put turnout at 550,000. The CGT said 800,000 people took part. Reuters said the crowds were bigger than at the peak of the yellow vest protests, but far smaller than those against Macron’s pension changes in 2023.

“We are fighting because the cost of living is too harsh,” said Lola, a 19-year-old protester in Paris. She also pointed to high fuel prices and to pupils who, she said, were being attacked and hurt for asking for more teachers.

A survey of 2,000 people in October found that about 45% of French people are worried about rising prices and inflation. Reuters said France’s efforts to cut public debt have not calmed investors, and government borrowing costs are at their highest in more than two decades. Macron is in the last stretch of his presidency, and the political scene is split. ‘The rope is stretched to its maximum’Lecornu said more than 150 police officers were hurt on Saturday. He did not say whether any protesters were injured. The Guardian reported that more than 900 officers have been hurt in recent weeks, with thousands of arrests, hundreds of injuries and schools set on fire.

Police tactics are under scrutiny. The police watchdog is looking into at least two dozen claims of police violence. Nuñez had stopped the use of one type of stun grenade against young protesters after a 15-year-old lost a hand, but said it could be used on Saturday. He confirmed that one person had a hand torn off in clashes that day. French media said the man tried to pick up a stun grenade, Reuters reported.

The UNSA police union posted a video on X that it said showed crowds attacking police vans with clubs and bricks. It said officers were at a breaking point. “The rope is stretched to its maximum,” the union said.

Many Métro stations were closed at the request of the police, including those near the Champs-Élysées and government offices. Police banned some gatherings in central Paris.

Protests spread across Europe Reuters said there were smaller protests in other countries as living costs rise. In Brussels, several hundred mostly young people marched, and some clashed with the police. Belgian student groups say they are against rising education costs. In Albania, police appeared to fire rubber bullets on the fifth day of student protests calling for Prime Minister Edi Rama to resign. In Lisbon, tens of thousands marched over housing and living costs. Portuguese housing prices have doubled since 2017.

In Milan, a march against high living costs turned to disorder, and police used tear gas to clear the square in front of the cathedral. In Bologna, police used water cannon and made seven arrests, according to the news agency ANSA.