Violent Cost-of-Living Protests Across France: Historic Town Hall Burned in Limoges

Large-scale protests against rising living costs and problems in the education system took place across France on Saturday, 17 October. In some cities they turned into violent unrest: around 1,200 people were detained, shops were looted, and in Limoges, a city in central France, the 143-year-old town hall was lost to fire, foreign media report. The events put pressure on President Emmanuel Macron's government.

Scale of the protests

France's Interior Ministry says about 550,000 people took part in 110 demonstrations nationwide. The influential CGT trade union puts the figure at up to 800,000. In Paris, roughly 110,000 demonstrators marched from Place de la République.

The wave began in mid-September as actions by secondary-school and university students against a shortage of teachers, overcrowded classes and neglected school infrastructure. On Saturday, trade unions, taxi drivers, farmers and "yellow vest" activists joined in. Their shared demands are lower fuel and food prices and higher wages and pensions.

Unrest in the cities

Most participants protested peacefully, but in several cities radical groups clashed with law enforcement. In Paris, rubbish bins were set alight, police were pelted with bottles and firecrackers, and a truck was set on fire, with flames spreading to a neighbouring building. Banks were vandalised, mobile phone shops and Apple and Lacoste stores were looted, and there was an attempt to break into the Galeries Lafayette department store. Police used tear gas, water cannon and batons, and at least 25 metro stations were closed for safety reasons.

In Limoges, the wing and roof of the town hall, built in 1883, caught fire and the bell tower collapsed; officials acknowledge that the building is lost. In Lyon a tourist information centre was set on fire, while in Marseille rioters wrecked a municipal police station and broke into the town hall.

Casualties and response

At least 150 police officers and gendarmes were injured, 107 of them in the Marseille region. In Saint-Étienne, a young demonstrator lost a hand in a police grenade blast.

Macron strongly condemned the violence, saying the right to protest requires respect for people and property. The Justice Ministry instructed prosecutors to act against looters and instigators of disorder with maximum severity.