Macron criticises ‘unbridled violence’ after days of unrest and 2,400 arrests across France
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has criticised “unbridled violence” after one of the most violent days of unrest in years left public buildings burned, hundreds of shops destroyed and looted and at least 2,400 people arrested in cities across the country.
“Watching these images, we have all asked ourselves how could French people do this to France?” he said in a televised address.
Macron said “nothing justifies” violence and that local state officials would be able to ban certain street gatherings if they deemed it necessary. He said a distinction must be drawn between what he called genuine, peaceful demonstrators making demands over the cost of living and the education system, and others who “destroy, ransack and loot”. He criticised what he called “factious groups from the ultra-left, joined by numerous delinquents”.
Politicians on the left and right called for the resignation of the interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, after the government appeared to have been caught by surprise by the scale of violence on Saturday as state buildings were stormed and torched, bus stops smashed, roads barricaded and shops broken into and destroyed. Protests also took place in Spain, Italy and Portugal.
Early on Monday, Macron slammed the “failures” he said led to the crisis, but refused the resignation of Nunez.
“The interior minister submitted his resignation to the president on Sunday,” the Elysee palace said in a statement. “Given the necessity for continued leadership of law enforcement at this time, the president refused.”
Young people have been taking to the streets in countries across Europe, including Spain, France and Portugal, to protest over their unhappiness at the state of schools and the wider cost of living crisis.
In France, high school pupils have clashed with police in often violent protests over long hours, missing teachers, dilapidated classrooms and an opaque university admissions system. Pupils routinely miss months of teaching due to unfilled staff absences.
Other demonstrators have then joined student marches to voice their unhappiness about rising living costs, including over fuel prices after US bombing caused the effective closure of the strait of Hormuz.
The General Confederation of Labour (CGT), one of France’s largest unions, has backed the protests and called for lower prices, higher pensions and boosted wages.
French president Emmanuel Macron is nearing the end of his time in the Élysée Palace after serving two terms.
Over the Pyrenees in Spain, activists took to the streets in September over housing prices.
The protests were triggered by the eviction of an 87-year-old woman from her home after an investment fund hiked her rent by 230%. Maricarmen Abascal died a fortnight later after being admitted to hospital.
Protesters have called for lower rents, an end to evictions and a ban on investment funds buying property.
Similar pleas were made across the Iberian border in Portugal on Saturday, with hundreds gathering in central Lisbon. Portuguese housing prices rose by 124% between 2015 and 2024, roughly twice as fast as the EU average, according to official data. Squeezed household budgets were also at the centre of marches in Milan.
A march on Saturday began peacefully but ended with masked rioters throwing stones, paving blocks and other objects at riot police and setting fire to barricades made from bar tables.
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