Limoges city hall set on fire, 1,200 arrested as cost-of-living protests turn violent across France

Rioting erupted in cities across France on Saturday as protests over rising living costs spiraled into some of the worst violence the country has seen in decades. The city hall in Limoges was set on fire, and Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said about 1,200 people had been arrested.

Hundreds of thousands marched peacefully in scores of cities, but violent groups targeted public buildings, looted luxury boutiques and supermarkets, and attacked police vehicles and officers. In Limoges, masked individuals burned a municipal police vehicle, then entered the city hall, a historic building inaugurated in 1883, and set it ablaze.

Its roof and bell tower collapsed. In Marseille, black-clad protesters broke into city hall and defaced it with graffiti, and in Lyon, protesters torched the tourist office.

In Paris, police fired tear gas as they retreated from mostly young protesters dressed in black with hoodies, masks and goggles. Rioters tried to break into the Galeries Lafayette department store, smashed banks, ransacked a Lacoste store and looted an SFR phone shop, and numerous cars were set ablaze.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said around 550,000 people took part nationwide, while the CGT union put the figure at 800,000. Prime Minister Lecornu said more than 150 police officers were injured but did not say whether any protesters were hurt.

Police tactics have drawn criticism after a teenager lost a hand picking up a stun grenade, and the police watchdog is investigating at least two dozen allegations of police violence.

Lecornu blamed the “ultra-left” and criminals for the unrest, months before next year’s presidential election. “To those who clearly want to use this violence as a ‘warm-up’ before the presidential election, I say clearly: We will not let ourselves be intimidated. No one will impose their political agenda through violence,” he wrote on X.

Additionally, President Emmanuel Macron vowed to prosecute and punish those responsible.

The protests began last month at high schools in Paris’s working-class northern suburbs over teacher shortages and shabby facilities, and grew into a broader movement over inequality, public spending and living standards.

The UNSA police union warned the government that police forces were at breaking point. “Today again, in every corner of France, our colleagues are being used as punching bags,” it said.