A historic building collapses and famous shops are looted... horrific scenes from France

From Paris to Marseille and Limoges, riots, scenes of looting and chaos spread across France, overshadowing a protest scene in which hundreds of thousands participated in denouncing the high cost of living, six months before the presidential elections.

In Paris, as in the streets of major cities, hundreds of establishments and shops were targeted, and entire streets were covered with debris and the burning skeletons of motorcycles. Local authorities said that "entire streets were systematically vandalized," according to what AFP reported.

Small groups of young men also carried out looting of famous stores such as Lafayette and Louis Vuitton in an organized manner, as their members, wearing masks and gloves, disabled the surveillance cameras before smashing the glass facades of the stores and storming them.

In Marseille (south), Lille (north), and Bordeaux (southwest), demonstrators stormed and vandalized municipal and provincial buildings.

As for Limoges (central), a fire destroyed a large part of the municipal building, a huge edifice dating back to the nineteenth century, according to local authorities.

On Sunday, the French authorities examined the extent of the damage they sustained after a day of violence.

While the government pledged to deal firmly with the rioters, in the face of escalating social tension, and in light of a state of government impotence due to the lack of a parliamentary majority.

The riots were more severe than in the 2023 protests and the “yellow vest” protests in 2018 and 2019, according to Agence France-Presse.

As the violence continued until late yesterday evening, especially in Paris, the authorities warned that “the financial cost of the damage will be huge.” The head of the Trade and Distribution Union, Alexandre Bombard, said that he expects “major economic and financial consequences.”

It is noteworthy that the number of demonstrators is approximately 550,000, according to estimates by the Ministry of Interior, but the organizers are talking about 800,000.

The protests and riots that accompanied them sparked differing positions among political parties. While the head of the radical leftist "Proud France" party, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, participated in a demonstration in Paris calling for a move away from acts of violence and sabotage, the leader of the extreme right, Marine Le Pen, who is leading in the polls, confirmed that her party, the "National Rally", stands with the police, considering that the left's position "legitimizes violence" and pushes the country towards chaos.

Six months before the presidential elections, the intensity of the political confrontation between Mélenchon and Le Pen is intensifying, as several opinion polls indicate that they may face each other in the second round.

While French President Emmanuel Macron pledged, via the X platform, to pursue and punish “everyone who committed acts of sabotage, attacked institutions or companies, or participated in acts of looting.”

The authorities announced that they arrested 1,200 people on Saturday, and that 150 security personnel were injured in confrontations with the demonstrators. A number of demonstrators were also injured, some of them seriously, especially in Saint-Etienne (centre), where a 17-year-old young man’s hand was amputated due to a bomb thrown by the police.