France mobilizes massive police presence to curb violence at protests over school funding, living costs

France deployed thousands of police Saturday for fresh protests over school funding and soaring living costs, seeking to prevent another weekend of looting, burned cars and attacks on public buildings. In Paris, authorities restricted the main march to the city’s southeastern edge, keeping it away from the center.

Thousands of people were already marching Saturday afternoon in Orléans, south of Paris, in a separate protest against the far right as Marine Le Pen’s National Rally held a two-day congress in the city.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said up to 70,000 officers would be deployed nationwide, backed by helicopters, armored vehicles and water cannons.

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What began last month as a protest over staff shortages at one high school southeast of Paris has grown into a national movement. Students demanding better schools and workers seeking higher wages and pensions have brought anger over living standards into the final months of President Emmanuel Macron ’s presidency.

Macron met high school representatives Friday. They said he had promised to overhaul university admissions, but called for protests to continue until concrete measures are announced.

More than half a million people took to the streets last Saturday. Some 3,000 shops across France were damaged or looted over the weekend.

Ahead of the new protests, Paris landmarks closed, shopkeepers boarded up storefronts and gendarmes stood guard beneath the Arc de Triomphe.

Shops board up and museums close

Gendarmes stood guard beneath the Arc de Triomphe as shopkeepers boarded up storefronts across Paris. Near the Saint-Lazare train station Saturday, 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.”

Major museums, including the Louvre, Orsay Museum, Picasso Museum and Grand Palais — where a major Cézanne exhibit is on display — were shuttered 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 organizers to cancel the weekend program.

Some protests have been banned

Police changed the Paris route Friday, replacing the planned Bastille-to-Nation march with a route between Porte d’Italie and Porte de Vincennes. At Bastille, the original starting point, police used a megaphone to tell people to leave or face a 135-euro fine.

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.

Trade unions have criticized the bans, calling them violations of freedom of expression, which is protected by the constitution.

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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 centers, businesses and public buildings.

Nuñez acknowledged Monday that police had lost control in some cities during last weekend’s unrest. He offered to resign, but Macron refused.

In Orléans, about 110 kilometers (70 miles) south of Paris, thousands of people took to the streets for an anti-far-right protest. It was organized on the sidelines of a meeting of 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.

“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.”