Clashes, blazes and wide-scale looting grip France

Clashes between police and protesters, massive looting and multiple blazes gripped France on Saturday, as nationwide marches against soaring inflation degenerated into street violence of "extreme intensity". The widespread unrest follows weeks of student protests and deepens political uncertainty as the country readies for elections in six months' time to replace President Emmanuel Macron. 
looters in several cities on Saturday broke into stores ranging from a high-end luxury brand to a bakery, on the sidelines of cost-of-living protests, AFP journalists and authorities said. In Paris, near the Republique square, the front window of a skincare brand came crashing down, with looters tossing beauty products to dozens of people massing outside. Looters also threw mobile phones into the crowd after breaking into a telecommunications shop. The main monument in Republique was covered in graffiti, with pavingstones ripped up from its feet, and a bar called "La Barrique" was ablaze. Youths broke into a supermarket nearby, grabbing alcohol bottles and drink cans to hurl at police officers.Whole streets in Paris "have been devastated", the city's mayor, Emmanuel Gregoire, said as groups of masked young men torched parked cars and ransacked many shops.

BREAKING: Mass protests over the soaring cost of living have ERUPTED into violent clashes across France, with fires, looting, hundreds arrested, and police deploying tear gas and water cannons as demonstrators demand lower prices, higher wages, and better public services. https://t.co/9pX1S3I4VI

— Brian Allen (@allenanalysis) October 17, 2026

In the second-largest city of Marseille, angry protesters vandalised dozens of shops, targeting luxury brand Hermès as well as others stores selling jewellery, clothes, makeup, household appliances and even bread. The fire brigade said it had intervened to put out a fire that had started at a shoe shop. In the northern city of Lille, shops were vandalised, with looters in particular breaking into an Apple Store in the city centre, Socialist mayor Arnaud Deslandes said. Several stores were looted in the southern city of Nice, including sportswear outlets and a motorbike dealership.
Purchasing power in France has dwindled since 2024, while the price of fuel has soared since the start of the US-Iran war earlier this year. As France gears up for elections to replace President Emmanuel Macron next year, public anger has mounted in recent weeks over perceived police brutality against high-school student protests.
France's President Emmanuel Macron vowed to punish those who wrecked public property or raided shops on the sidelines of cost-of-living protests on Saturday. "Those who carried out vandalism, attacked administrative offices or businesses, or carried out looting -- even in our town halls -- will be prosecuted and punished," he said on X.
Police arrested around 400 people, most of whom were adults, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told reporters, after vandalism "at the very clear instigation of the hard left" and what he described as opportunistic looting on the sidelines of the demonstrations.