PARIS—Rioters rampaged through cities across France on Saturday as weeks of student protests broadened to a wider movement of people angry over the rising cost of living.
In Marseille, rioters used a metal barricade to ram through the door of city hall, allowing a crowd of young masked people to storm the building and graffiti its lobby. In Lyon, the city’s office of tourism was set ablaze and stores were vandalized. In Paris, rioters torched cars and blocked the streets with burning barricades. Security forces scrambled to protect the Élysée Palace and other sensitive sites as protesters sought to converge on government buildings, according to French officials.
A protester throws a wooden pallet onto a fire amid clashes during a demonstration against the cost of living and rising fuel prices in Marseille,, as part of nationwide protests called by the “Yellow Vests” movement, joined by French high school and university students, teachers and parents demanding better school conditions and government action, as well as labour unions, workers, farmers and retirees, France, October 17, 2026. REUTERS/Manon Cruz
The chaos erupted amid a nationwide protest over the cost of living that drew tens of thousands of people of all ages onto the streets, ranging from high school students to some of the country’s most prominent left-wing politicians. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the far-left firebrand who is rising in polls ahead of next spring’s presidential election, spearheaded one group of protesters marching in Paris.
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Lyon Mayor Gregory Doucet said rioters armed with Molotov cocktails were operating “in parallel” with peaceful protesters, stretching police forces.
“The situation is really disorienting,” he said.
Protesters are demanding the government take costly measures to boost consumers’ purchasing power and invest in the education system. Their demands, however, are colliding with the financial realities of a cash-strapped French state.
A protester wearing a yellow vest throws an object onto a burning car amid clashes between protesters and police during a day of demonstrations against the cost of living and rising fuel prices in Paris as part of nationwide protests called by the “Yellow Vests” movement, joined by French high school and university students, teachers and parents demanding better school conditions and government action, as well as labour unions, workers, farmers and retirees, France, October 17, 2026. REUTERS/Abdul Saboor
French firefighters work to extinguish burning car amid clashes during a day of demonstrations against the cost of living and rising fuel prices in Paris as part of nationwide protests called by the “Yellow Vests” movement, joined by French high school and university students, teachers and parents demanding better school conditions and government action, as well as labour unions, workers, farmers and retirees, France, October 17, 2026. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq
Investors have pushed France’s borrowing costs to some of their highest levels in decades amid concerns the country’s political class is incapable of reining in public spending that has resulted in years of budget deficits above 5% of gross domestic product.
In a bid to reassure markets, the government has proposed €43 billion, equivalent to $49 billion, in spending cuts for its 2027 budget. The proposed cuts, however, have deepened public anger and fueled the protests.
The protests began last month with blockades at high schools as students demanded more teachers, smaller classes and greater investment in dilapidated school buildings. On Saturday the protests spread to trade unions and members of the yellow-vest protest movement, becoming a locus of broader discontent over the state of France’s public services.
A masked protester walks past burning bicycles amid clashes during a demonstration against the cost of living and rising fuel prices at the Place de la Republique in Paris as part of nationwide protests called by the “Yellow Vests” movement, joined by French high school and university students, teachers and parents demanding better school conditions and government action, as well as labour unions, workers, farmers and retirees, France, October 17, 2026. REUTERS/Jack Taylor
A person falls on the ground, during clashes following a demonstration, as part of nationwide protests called by the “Yellow Vests” movement against the cost of living and rising fuel prices, Strasbourg, France, October 17, 2026. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
The government has mobilized thousands of police in a bid to counter the violence. Clashes with police in previous protests, however, have resulted in gruesome injuries to minors, exacerbating tensions and fueling turnout at subsequent demonstrations. One teenager’s hand was blown off by a dispersal grenade, another lost an eye, while a 14-year-old boy suffered a jaw fracture.
Write to Stacy Meichtry at Stacy.Meichtry@wsj.com