France toughens protest response as officials admit failure

PARIS — French officials, acknowledging law-enforcement failures, rolled out tougher security measures and pledged aid for businesses after cost-of-living protests this weekend degenerated into violence, vandalism and looting.

An 11 p.m. curfew was put in place in a few areas of Paris amid other restrictions after Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu earlier called on regional authorities to impose curfews where needed.

“These are specific acts of delinquency, of looting, and it is out of the question that it continues,” Lecornu told reporters. He blamed an “ultra-left movement that seeks to create profound disorder in the country, all the way through to the presidential election.”

The protests drew more than half a million people on Saturday across the country, but what started out as a peaceful demonstration to complain about poor conditions in classrooms and hospitals, and cost-of-living concerns soon deteriorated. Some 2,397 people were arrested on Saturday, according to Interior Ministry figures released late Sunday.

Luxury stores including Burberry and Kenzo were looted, with secondhand online marketplaces like Vinted and Leboncoin seeing an influx of listings suspected to contain plundered items.

French Digital Minister Anne Le Hénanff and other government officials were to meet with platforms including Meta, Amazon and eBay on Monday. She said she expected the platforms to remove the listings promptly and “work closely with government authorities” to ensure that those resellers are prosecuted.

French bonds and stocks fell, leading European markets lower. Social media accounts on X linked to the Yellow Vests protests called to continue actions all week, and for another day of unrest on Saturday. Protests and other actions are likely to extend well beyond then. Several unions have already called for a strike on Nov. 5.

Italy protests

France wasn’t alone in weekend protests getting out of hand. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni chaired an emergency meeting of her advisers Monday after demonstrations in Milan ended in rioting and looting. Protests also took place in Belgium, Portugal and Albania.

Intelligence services failed to predict the scale and violence of the rioters, French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said. They got 550,000 protesters against fewer than the 200,000 they’d anticipated, he said on France Inter radio.

“The measures we put in place were out of balance not only with regard to the number of participants, but also with regard to the rioters, looters, and far-left activists who caused the marches to spiral out of control,” he said. Nunez offered to resign, he said, which was refused by President Emmanuel Macron, who asked for clarity on intelligence failings.

“The country needs order, peace, and not an escalation,” Macron said in a Sunday night address. Macron said many participants in protest marches expressed concerns over the cost of living, particularly prices at the pump, and added that he aimed “to secure our supplies” of fuel on a visit to Gulf countries starting Monday.

Fallout from the weekend has sparked political reactions exacerbating an already divided landscape, amid tense budget debates and ahead of the election to take place in six months. “Our country is caught in a vise, held hostage even, between violence and powerlessness,” far-right leader Marine Le Pen said in a speech posted on X on Sunday. Le Pen, who leads in polls, directly blamed far-left firebrand Jean-Luc Mélenchon and his France Unbowed party for stirring up the violence.

French assets fell on Monday as investors pondered the impact of the violence on the nation’s economic and political outlook. Government bonds underperformed most European peers, causing the spread between its 10-year yield and the German equivalent to widen 10 basis points to 147 basis points.

The scenes of chaos in Paris have started to have an impact on tourism, according to a hotel industry representative. High-end hotels in the French capital have started to see cancellations, Christophe Laure, the head of UMIH Prestige, which represents four- and five-star hotels, told Bloomberg News.

While it’s too early to provide any data on the cancellations, “clients on Saturday were scared, they were in shock,” Laure added.

Lecornu said some unemployment aid would be channeled to shop owners whose businesses were damaged.

The overall cost of the riots could quickly add up. Damage from the unrest will cost “hundreds of millions of euros” to repair, according to Alexandre Bompard, the chief executive officer of grocer Carrefour SA who heads the French trade and distribution federation. France experienced similar events in June 2023, which were estimated at €730 million ($819 million).

The representatives of various retailers across Paris urged authorities to do everything to avoid scenes of destruction and looting being repeated. “It’s not normal for economic actors to be compelled — by hiring private security personnel — to ensure the safety of their establishments, as was the case this weekend,” wrote the representatives of retailers located in various luxury shopping areas of the French capital.

“We emphasize that Paris and our neighborhoods represent the image of France. These events are ruining our country’s reputation,” wrote the organization representing the Champs-Elysées and Faubourg Saint-Honoré shops among others.

The student movement that gained steam throughout September and partly fueled Saturday’s protests continues to have an impact this week, despite the start of school holidays.

In Paris, the Louvre museum was closed on Monday morning, according to a security guard, as a few dozen students from the Ecole du Louvre art school were blocking the glass pyramid that serves as the museum entrance, holding signs in support of the high school protests.

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(With assistance from Angelina Rascouet, Claudia Cohen, Jenny Che, Alessandra Migliaccio and Frank Connelly.)

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