Around 146,000 demonstrators, according to data from the Ministry of the Interior, and 250,000, according to the convening organizations, have once again occupied the streets of the main French cities this Saturday for the fourth consecutive day of social mobilizations. The protests began over the conflict in the education sector, but have spread to denounce the rising cost of living.
Participation has been cut in half compared with the previous Saturday, when the Ministry of the Interior estimated at more than 320,000 the number of people who took to the streets. Despite the fact that the day has generally unfolded peacefully, the authorities have already reported 360 arrests.
The Ministry of the Interior has said that "public gatherings in the main cities were marred by numerous incidents," with the exception of Paris. To guarantee security, the Government has deployed about 70,000 police officers across the country.
In the capital, the main march has linked Place de la République and Place de la Nation and has brought together tens of thousands of people, especially young people, high school and university students. The call came from youth organizations such as Sindicato de Estudiantes, FAGE, UNEF and USL, together with the unions CGT, FO, FSU, Solidaires and CFDT.
The Yellow Vests movement, one of the convening groups, has gathered in Place de la Concorde in Paris despite lacking authorization. The police have detained several dozen participants, who have been fined 135 euros, and have arrested two of its organizers, Benjamin Ball and Azelma Sigaux, in front of the headquarters of the National Assembly.
"The fact that negotiations with Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu begin on Monday at Matignon does not mean that the mobilization should end," the general secretary of the main French union, the Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT), Vincent Gautheron, said. "Today is a date that allows us to keep up the pressure," the spokesperson for the Sindicato de Estudiantes, Sabrine Kharbach, said in turn.
Protests have been repeated in other large cities, such as Lyon, where the police have used tear gas to disperse “several hundred people who were occupying public spaces” in a central area in which gatherings were banned, according to what the prefecture has indicated. The clashes have continued for much of the afternoon and have resulted in thirteen arrests. The mobilizations have also been repeated in cities such as Toulouse, Marseille and Lille.