Protests over rising living costs and education funding have swept major French cities over the weekend<\/p>\n
Nearly 350 people were arrested in Paris on Sunday and overnight amid violent unrest sweeping France despite President Emmanuel Macron\u2019s appeals for calm, the authorities said on Monday.
\nHundreds of thousands protested rising living costs and education funding cuts over the weekend, with demonstrations escalating into clashes with police, arson and looting.
\nThe violence erupted Saturday as Yellow Vest demonstrations merged with student protests that began last month at a high school in Creteil, near Paris, over teacher shortages and deteriorating facilities. The movement has since broadened into protests against inequality and rising living costs, with labor unions joining in opposition to the government\u2019s proposed 2027 budget and spending cuts.
\nDespite Macron\u2019s Friday appeal for \u201ccalm and respect,\u201d Paris endured two days of rioting. On Sunday, protesters clashed with police near Place de la Republique as vehicles and trach cans burned, shops were looted and officers deployed tear gas and water cannons.<\/p>\n
Footage showed charred wreckage, shattered storefronts, smashed advertising signs and graffiti-covered businesses.<\/p>\n
\ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7 Paris? Its looks like a third world country \ud83d\ude22<\/p>\n
Writer: Samuel https:\/\/t.co\/rbd0fwCwm6\u2014 Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) October 19, 2026<\/p>\n
A crowd also attacked RT Arabic correspondent Wafa Fakkani while she was filming the protests. Her cameraman captured the incident before the crew escaped and resumed reporting.<\/p>\n
A day prior, violence hit some of the capital\u2019s wealthiest shopping districts, where luxury retailers were targeted by vandals and looters. Paris Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire said \u201centire streets\u201d had been \u201csystematically devastated.\u201d<\/p>\n
Galeries Lafayette in Paris is being looted tonight.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the French equivalent of Harrods in London or Bergdorf Goodman in NYC https:\/\/t.co\/F5jZU4bswZ\u2014 Visegr\u00e1d 24 (@visegrad24) October 17, 2026<\/p>\n
Clashes also erupted in Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Bordeaux, Angers, and Limoges, damaging businesses and public buildings. Alain Di Crescenzo, head of the CCI France chamber of commerce network, estimated that more than 2,000 businesses were affected, with damage reaching \u201chundreds of millions of euros.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
French city hall goes up in flames amid nationwide unrest (VIDEOS)<\/p>\n
Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin put nationwide turnout at 550,000, including 110,000 in Paris, while organizing trade unions, including the CGT, and student groups estimated that 800,000 people took part. Darmanin told France 2 on Monday that, in total, more than 2,330 people had been detained over the weekend, including around 855 in the capital. Nearly 1,000 police officers and gendarmes were reportedly injured.
\nAlthough the worst rioting had subsided by Monday morning, students and union activists blocked access to the iconic Louvre Museum, denouncing \u201cpolice repression.\u201d Footage showed demonstrators gathering outside the museum\u2019s glass pyramid after passing security, prompting its temporary closure.<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udea8\ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7 ALERTE INFO !<\/p>\n
“ACAB, ACAB, ACAB !”<\/p>\n
Devant la pyramide du Louvre \u00e0 Paris, des \u00e9tudiants d\u2019\u00e9coles d\u2019art et de culture manifestent et bloquent l\u2019entr\u00e9e du mus\u00e9e.<\/p>\n
(@JBSemerdjian \/ Le Figaro) https:\/\/t.co\/zpH7KcHPX4\u2014 Impact (@ImpactMediaFR) October 19, 2026<\/p>\n
Action and reaction
\nPoliticians across France\u2019s political spectrum blamed Macron and his government for the unrest, accusing the administration of undermining public services and failing to maintain order.
\nMarine Le Pen, who leads first-round polling for the 2027 presidential election, called Macron a president \u201cwithout credibility or authority,\u201d describing his administration as \u201ca government on its last legs.\u201d Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of the left-wing France Unbowed party, blamed \u201cten disastrous years\u201d of Macron weakening public services. The mayors of Paris, Marseille and Limoges accused Interior Minister Laurent Nunez and police commanders of incompetence in maintaining public order.
\nNunez initially blamed \u201copportunistic troublemakers\u201d for the unrest, but admitted Monday that police had suffered \u201ca loss of control\u201d due to poor planning. He said he offered his resignation Sunday, but Macron refused, instead ordering a new policing strategy, faster deployment and transparency over intelligence failures. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu ordered partial curfews in several cities.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Macron\u2019s \u2018incompetence\u2019 fueled France riots \u2013 opposition leaders<\/p>\n
Macron condemned the rioting, insisting there was \u201cno place for violence\u201d and promising punishment for vandals and looters. In a televised address Sunday, he said \u201cnothing justifies\u201d the destruction, but pledged to address students\u2019 complaints over school conditions. Meanwhile, he portrayed the unrest as an attempt by political opponents to disrupt the democratic process and influence voters ahead of the presidential election in six months.
\nDespite the unrest, Macron departed on Monday for a three-day visit to the Middle East, leaving his government to deal with the fallout at home.
\nThe crisis comes as Macron\u2019s approval ratings hit record lows. An October Ipsos BVA-CESI poll for La Tribune Dimanche put his approval at 15%, with 82% disapproving, the lowest since he took office in 2017. An Ifop survey recorded 17% approval and 83% dissaproval. Le Pen leads first-round polling for the April 2027 election with 32-36% support.
\nProtests spread beyond France
\nFrance was not alone in facing unrest over the weekend, as tens of thousands protested living costs, housing shortages and government policies across Europe. Demonstrations in several countries escalated into clashes, vandalism and arson.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
WATCH smashed storefronts, burned buildings as Europe faces aftermath of latest violent protests<\/p>\n
In Belgium, students opposed rising education costs and reforms they say threaten access to higher education. In Italy, marches against living costs and wars turned violent in Milan and Bologna. In Portugal, tens of thousands protested low wages, rising rents and housing shortages. In Albania, student-led protests entered a fifth day, with demonstrators demanding Prime Minister Edi Rama\u2019s resignation over corruption allegations, unemployment and poor prospects for young people.
\nFormer Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz described the unrest across Europe over the weekend as resembling \u201cscenes from a civil war,\u201d warning in a post on X that \u201cwe risk seeing the same scenes soon in Berlin, Vienna and Munich.\u201d
\nKremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the European unrest as \u201cbordering on chaos,\u201d calling it a major crisis.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s hard to say whether the crisis is systemic or not, but it is obvious that it is a big crisis,\u201d he told reporters on Monday.
\nSome experts who spoke to RT linked the unrest to EU\u2019s confrontation with Russia. Italian journalist Davide Carbonaro called the severing of economic ties with Moscow \u201ceconomic and political suicide,\u201d saying that young Europeans felt betrayed and deprived of a future. Serbian journalist Nebojsa Malic accused Western leaders of scapegoating Russia to hide their failures.
\nRT\u2019s Chay Bowes examined how Europe\u2019s continued support for Ukraine and sanctions against Russia are fueling economic pressures and public discontent as unrest spreads across the continent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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