PARIS — About 410,000 people joined mass demonstrations across France over the weekend to protest surging living costs and deteriorating conditions in schools. Violent unrest eased after authorities deployed 70,000 police officers, a sharp increase from the previous protest, but the youth-led movement appears to be spreading to Spain, Italy, Portugal and other European countries.
The Financial Times reported on the 24th, citing French authorities, that 410,000 people took part in the protests that day, with 110,000 gathering in Paris alone. That was down from the more than 500,000 who turned out a week earlier at a rally that descended into rioting and looting. The General Confederation of Labour (CGT), which organized the protest, put the turnout at 800,000.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said 1,000 people were arrested. The protests began largely peacefully but clashes broke out in some areas in the final stages. French police used tear gas to disperse crowds in Paris, Marseille, Lyon and other cities nationwide. Members of the "black bloc," demonstrators who wear black clothing and masks and engage in violence, also threw objects at police, the FT reported. Tensions rose as armored vehicles moved in behind the Bourbon Palace in Paris, which houses the lower house of parliament.
Still, the tougher response by French authorities appeared to take effect, with violence somewhat reduced from the earlier protest. Authorities deployed 70,000 security personnel to prevent rioting and looting, 20% more than a week earlier. In Orleans, where the far-right National Rally (RN) held its party convention, left-led counterprotests took place, but clashes were contained after authorities closed buildings and suspended public transportation.
Instead, the unrest is spreading to other European cities. In Spain and Portugal, protests continued over pension increases and the supply of affordable housing, respectively. Reuters reported that 100 people were arrested in Barcelona after demonstrators set fire to shops and looted goods. In Italy, protests against rising living costs broke out in Milan and other major cities, where police arrested nine people and detained 371. According to the Associated Press, clashes erupted in Rome and Turin, with police firing water cannons at demonstrators. In Tirana, Albania, anti-corruption protests left more than 300 people injured, including demonstrators and police.
Foreign media noted that Gen Z, those born after the mid-1990s, is leading the protests across Europe. CNN said the demonstrations in Europe had unleashed the pent-up frustration of a younger generation that fears it will not get the same opportunities as its parents, adding that the protests in different countries were inspiring one another.
Meanwhile, France's deteriorating public finances, the spark for the unrest, won some breathing room as Moody's Investors Service left the country's credit rating unchanged. The rating agency on the previous day affirmed France at 'Aa3' and maintained its outlook at negative. Moody's noted, however, that conditions had worsened from what it had expected a few months earlier, saying government bond yields had risen faster than anticipated and that widespread social protests could constrain efforts to consolidate public finances.