France imposed overnight curfews in parts of Paris and cities including Marseille, Nice, Lyon and Lille after weekend rioting and looting, with more than 2,500 arrests and an interior minister who offered to resign.
French authorities imposed overnight curfews in parts of central Paris and in a string of other cities after a weekend of rioting and looting that officials describe as the country's worst street violence in years. Police in the capital said the curfew would run from 23:00 to 06:00 local time in Place de la République, where crowds had gathered over the weekend, and in the Les Halles shopping district. Unauthorised gatherings were also banned in several other parts of the city centre.
Partial curfews were announced in Marseille, Bordeaux, Nice and Lyon in the south, as well as Lille and other towns in the north. The restrictions vary by city, with several applying only to unaccompanied minors. Nice mayor Eric Ciotti said the measure there would remain in force until Sunday; Bordeaux's prefect limited its curfew to areas hit by looting on 17 October, running until 26 October.
Interior minister admits police 'lost control'
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez acknowledged that police had lost control in some cities and offered his resignation on Sunday. President Emmanuel Macron refused it, citing the need for continued command of law enforcement, while pressing for transparency over what he called intelligence and foresight failings. Nuñez said 200 investigators were reviewing CCTV footage to identify possible ringleaders.
Speaking after a crisis meeting on Monday, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said local mayors would be empowered to impose curfews where needed, without naming the cities involved. He did not rule out a state of emergency and announced funding to help affected areas recover, to be recouped from those responsible for the damage. "There will be a law that will be put in place to find ways of making sure that those who have damaged properties will have to pay," he said. A partial unemployment fund was also announced for people unable to work because of the unrest. Lecornu is due to visit Limoges on Friday.
Scale of the damage
More than 2,500 people have been taken into police custody, according to officials, and around 1,000 security personnel were injured. About 60,000 officers were deployed on Saturday, when roughly 500,000 people joined demonstrations nationwide. One demonstrator's hand was blown off by a police crowd-control grenade, according to AFP.
The head of France's Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Alain Di Crescenzo, told RTL that more than 2,000 businesses had been directly affected and estimated the damage in the hundreds of millions of euros. In Limoges, the 19th-century city hall was gutted by fire on Saturday, its clock tower and roof collapsing. The shared-mobility operator Dott said about 300 of its electric bikes were destroyed and 120 severely damaged in Paris, with losses across three cities estimated at roughly 400,000 euros.
Two government ministers said looted goods had appeared on online marketplaces. Vinted said it had removed listings linked to the looting and stepped up monitoring of suspicious items.
Political fallout before 2027
The protests began last month with students demanding better conditions in schools and widened into broader grievances over fuel prices, living costs and deteriorating public services, drawing trade unions and other groups. Student organisations have called further demonstrations for Thursday and Saturday, and activists seeking to revive the 2018 "yellow vest" movement have announced nationwide protests on Saturday under the slogan "Macron must go".
Lecornu has alleged that some groups "want to create chaos in our country up until the presidential elections", an accusation aimed at the left-wing La France Insoumise. Party leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who intends to stand in next year's presidential election, demanded the prime minister prove the claim or "apologise, shut up, and stop stoking disorder".
Several governments have issued travel advisories. The US embassy in Paris told Americans to avoid demonstration areas, and Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic issued similar warnings.
Sources: BBC, France 24, Reuters, AFP.