POLICE have imposed an overnight curfew in two areas of the French capital following a weekend of violent rioting and looting across the country, as authorities move to prevent further disorder.
The curfew prohibits people from entering or remaining in Place de la République, where rioting broke out on Saturday, and the Les Halles shopping district, which was targeted by looters.
It runs from 11pm Monday to 6am Tuesday, while gatherings and demonstrations are banned from 8pm, the Paris police said, adding that the measures were intended to protect “people and property from the violence and looting”.
AP reported on Tuesday that Lecornu had earlier called for “very limited” and “localized” curfews after the unrest, which targeted town halls, public buildings and businesses across France.
Authorities in northern France imposed overnight curfews for children and teenagers under 18 in several cities, including Lille, from 8pm to 6am for the next two days. Nice also introduced an overnight curfew for minors from 9pm.
Lecornu defended the police response, saying that despite severe violence and extensive property damage, no one had been killed.
“Despite scenes of severe violence and extensive property damage, no one was killed, and that is a miracle,” he said.
At least 2,400 people were arrested nationwide, while authorities estimated that about 3,000 businesses had been damaged or looted.
The unrest spread to Paris, Lyon, Marseille and other cities, where groups set fire to rubbish bins, bicycles and other objects and looted shops. In Limoges, flames engulfed the 19th-century city hall, causing its roof to collapse and nearly destroying the building.
The violence followed nationwide protests on Saturday over rising living costs and poor conditions in schools, recalling earlier unrest during the yellow vest movement that began in 2018 and riots following the fatal police shooting of a teenager in 2023.
President Emmanuel Macron on Monday rejected the resignation of Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, saying continued leadership of law enforcement was necessary amid the crisis.
Macron instructed Nuñez to take steps to ensure transparency over failures in planning and intelligence-gathering that contributed to the violence, and to introduce new policing tactics as quickly as possible.
Nuñez acknowledged that authorities had lost control in some major cities during Saturday’s unrest.
“You can’t look shopkeepers in the eye when hundreds of businesses have been looted and say we haven’t lost control in some of these major cities,” he said.
He blamed the violence on looters and far-left activists, arguing that police tactics needed to adapt to highly mobile groups.
In Paris, shopkeepers began assessing the damage. Ouri Zagoury, who owns a video game shop near Place de la République, said he had closed his store on Saturday afternoon but later watched looters break in through surveillance cameras.
He said police had advised him not to intervene when he called for help, but officers did not arrive.
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