Thousands of protesters have marched in Paris, with French police making more than 135 arrests so far, the interior minister said.
The thousands gathered in the French capital to walk along the designated 1.5km route from Porte d’Italie to Porte de Vincennes.
The march has been organised by a coalition of unions and supporting student federations, but there are also protesters of all stripes – many young people, but also families, office workers and retirees.
France’s interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, earlier said that there was a turnout of about 35,000 people in marches across the country, compared with 60,000 last Saturday.
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He said authorities had counted 136 public street actions, down from 264 the previous weekend.
Nuñez said police have seized a variety of items from protesters, including metal balls, lead pellets, fireworks, slingshots, steel balls, improvised weapons, a katana and airsoft weapons.
Major museums in Paris closed and authorities deployed a sizeable police force for a round of new protests on Saturday across France, hoping to prevent a repeat of last week’s violent unrest that shocked the country.
Scenes of looting, burnt-out cars and attacks on public buildings left the impression that the government had lost control, as groups of masked vandals targeted businesses in Paris and other city centres.
Nuñez said as many as 70,000 officers will be deployed nationwide, along with helicopters, armoured vehicles and water cannons.
Major museums including the Louvre, Orsay Museum, Picasso Museum and Grand Palais – where a major Cezanne exhibit is on display – are closed on Saturday.
Art Basel, one of the world’s most prestigious contemporary art fairs, opened to the public on Friday, but only for the day, with the threat of unrest prompting organisers to cancel the weekend programme.
Shopkeepers in Paris have been barricading their stores all week. Near Place de la République, one of last weekend’s hot spots, a bank branch and other businesses were boarded up with wooden panels to deter potential looters.
Following the unrest, Paris police prefect Patrice Faure urged shopkeepers to hire security guards. He later clarified that protecting business owners and their establishments is the responsibility of the government.
Some 3,000 shops across France were damaged or looted last weekend.
Protest marches were scheduled in Paris and Marseilles, but some other rallies, including in Lyon, Nice and Montpellier, have been banned by local authorities.
Cities outside Paris were hit hard by the unrest. In Limoges, a suspected arson nearly destroyed the 19th-century city hall.
Trade unions have criticised the bans, calling them violations of freedom of expression, which is protected by the constitution.
President Emmanuel Macron entered the crisis in the final stretches of his term, with his popularity at its lowest since he took office in 2017. He has said that the measures are needed to protect city centres, businesses and public buildings.
Saturday’s demonstration in the city of Orleans, about 110km (70 miles) south of Paris, will also be closely watched.
About 50 organisations have called for a protest against the far right on the sidelines of the two-day congress of Marine Le Pen’s nationalist, anti-immigration party ahead of next spring’s presidential election. Organisers include labour unions, left-wing parties, student and antiracism groups.
The demonstrations first erupted last month in a high school southeast of Paris over a lack of staff.
From there, class boycotts and demonstrations spread to other Paris suburbs and nationwide, including smaller towns.
High school students have raised concerns about underfunded schools and staff shortages, particularly in lower-income neighbourhoods. Some also called for a reform of the university admissions system, seen by many as unfair.
With the government seemingly unable to respond to students’ demands, the movement has morphed into larger protests over soaring living costs, just months before the vote to choose Macron’s successor.
– PA
