France arrests 1,200 as protests burn

France’s government said at least 1,200 people were arrested after demonstrations over school conditions and living costs descended into violence across the country, with fires, looting and damage to public buildings reported in Paris and multiple regional cities.

The interior ministry, cited by the BBC, said about 550,000 people took part in the protests. That matters because the scale was not marginal, even if the most destructive scenes involved a smaller share of those on the streets. In Paris, the main march was described as largely peaceful in the afternoon before clashes intensified. Riot police used tear gas and water cannon. The BBC reported seeing officers charge a crowd and strike several people with batons.

The damage spread well beyond the capital. In Limoges, a fire at the town hall caused part of the roof to collapse, according to the local prefecture. In Lyon, Mayor Grégory Doucet said the city’s tourist office was burned. Looting was reported in several cities, including raids on clothes and food shops in Paris and a break-in at an Apple store in Lille.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said 150 police officers were injured. In Saint-Étienne, the city’s mayor said a young man lost a hand in an explosion. The BBC also reported authenticated footage from Grenoble showing masked men driving a tourist train toward riot police on a narrow city-centre street.

The protests began with grievances that are concrete rather than theatrical: staff shortages and deteriorating conditions in lycées, France’s secondary schools. Students have since been joined by trade unionists and other protest groups, including figures linked to the gilets jaunes movement. That has widened the coalition and also made control harder.

What changed in official terms is limited so far. Education Minister Édouard Geffray had already promised 3,000 extra supply teachers in a television interview. The offer looks more like a pressure-release measure than a settlement, and it did not prevent this escalation.

French leaders are now fighting over political ownership of the unrest. Emmanuel Macron said those responsible for attacks and looting would be prosecuted. Jean-Luc Mélenchon condemned looting and arson but accused police of turning on protesters. Marine Le Pen said legitimate demands had been hijacked by the far left. Those arguments are already pointing toward the presidential race. The evidence in hand is narrower: a mass protest movement, documented destruction in several cities, and a state response centred on policing and arrests rather than a broader new policy offer.