Scattered protests continue as Paris reels from violence

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Protesters angry at French President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reforms have continued with scattered actions amid slowed train traffic, rows of lorries blocking access to Marseille’s commercial port and debris still littering the Paris streets after the previous day’s mass demonstrations.

More than 450 protesters were arrested in Paris and beyond on Thursday as some 300 demonstrations drew more than a million people nationwide to protest against unpopular pension reforms.

Interior minister Gerald Darmanin said on Friday that some 441 police and gendarmes were injured as violence marred some marches.

He said 1,000 rubbish bins were set on fire in the French capital during the previous day’s action.

An injured police officer is taken away by his colleagues during a rally in Paris
An injured police officer is taken away by his colleagues during a rally in Paris (Christophe Ena/AP)

Polls say most French oppose Mr Macron’s Bill to increase the retirement age from 62 to 64, which he says is necessary to keep the system afloat.

The supply of fuel to Paris by the large Gonfreville-L’Orcher refinery in Normandy resumed on Friday after police intervened, according to energy transition minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher.

At the Fos-sur-mer oil terminal near Marseille, however, protesters were meeting to plan future oil refinery blockades.

Fearing disruptions in coming days as actions continue, France’s Civil Aviation Authority has requested that a third of flights be cancelled on Sunday at Paris’s second airport, Orly, with 20% to be cancelled on Monday.

Unions have called for new protests and strikes on Tuesday, when Britain’s King Charles III is scheduled to visit Bordeaux on the second day of his trip to France.

Protesters march during a rally in Paris
Protesters march during a rally in Paris (Aurelien Morissard/AP)

The mayor of Bordeaux, Pierre Hurmic, said on Friday he had “difficulty understanding the interest of such acts of vandalism”.

Mr Hurmic said he hopes Charles’s visit to his city next week will not be cancelled.

“I hope that we do not give this gift to the thugs,” he said, although he acknowledged that a tram ride with the King may now be off the cards.

A man in costume stands over la Plaine during Marseille’s Carnaval de la Plaine in Marseille, southern France
A man in costume stands over la Plaine during Marseille’s Carnaval de la Plaine in Marseille, southern France (Daniel Cole/AP)

In Greece, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the French embassy in Athens on Thursday to show solidarity.

Protesters chanted slogans and held placards that read “Macron, your democracy hangs on nine votes” and “From Greece: victory for the workers of France”.

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