980 Detained as French Marches End in Street Fights Across Several Cities

French authorities detained nearly 1,000 people on Saturday as hundreds of thousands joined nationwide marches over the cost of living and school conditions. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said late in the day that the count had reached 980 and would climb further.

The interior ministry estimated turnout at 410,000 while unions reported around 800,000 participants. Police used tear gas and water cannon in several cities. In Marseille, demonstrators burned rubbish bins and blocked streets with metal sheets. Bordeaux saw people tearing boards from a shop, and Lyon police fired tear gas at a gathering in an area the local prefecture had closed off.

In Paris, a peaceful march from Porte d'Italie toward Porte de Vincennes ended in violence. Protesters built makeshift barricades and threw objects at officers. Police in batons charged masked youths who were smashing the windows of a car dealership. Nuñez said several thousand radical activists gathered at the rear of the march, including about 500 individuals identified as rioters. The Paris operation included an elite unit assigned to organized crime and counter-terrorism.

President Emmanuel Macron decreed earlier in the week that only demonstrations organized by recognized trade unions would be permitted. About 70,000 officers were deployed and restrictions were placed on movement in several cities. Authorities aimed to prevent a repeat of the violence from the prior week, when officers were outnumbered, hundreds of businesses were looted and buildings were burned. Fast-track court hearings in recent days jailed hundreds of people for vandalism, arson and looting.

Nuñez said two people were seriously injured, one in Toulouse and the other in Clermont-Ferrand. A 26-year-old Paris protester named Zelie said people are "suffering a lot" and that "it's been too much". In Lyon, a protester said there were around 150 people present, mostly secondary school and university students. Separately, about 13,000 people rallied in Orléans against the National Rally party.

Clashes also occurred outside France. Riot police fired tear gas at thousands of anti-government demonstrators in Tirana, Albania, and violence was reported in Brussels. In Milan, hundreds of soldiers and police stopped protesters from gathering after fears of a repeat of the previous week's violence.

The Saturday marches followed a demonstration last week of about 550,000 people against rising fuel prices and living costs, after weeks of student protests. More than 2,500 arrests followed, over 2,000 shops and businesses were affected, and damage was estimated by the Chambers of Commerce and Industry at hundreds of millions of euros. About 1,000 police officers were injured during that unrest. Presidential elections are six months away.