‘Massive’ security operation planned in France ahead of fresh protests on Saturday

French cities were calm overnight under curfews imposed after last weekend’s scenes of chaos, as protest groups announced a new round ‌of demonstrations next Saturday.

Reeling from a weekend of extraordinary violence, the government is scrambling to reassure people it has learned its lesson ​from security shortcomings that left the centres of cities such as Paris, Marseilles and Lyons largely unprotected from post-demonstration rioters and looters.

“The targeted curfews have contributed to the calm of last night,” prime minister Sébastien Lecornu said in a post on ​X, adding that the measure could be extended “where the situation requires it”.

The fresh curfews were being imposed across the city centres of Paris and Lyon on Tuesday after the first quiet night since France’s most destructive rioting in years.

Lecornu said a “massive” security operation was being planned for new protests on Saturday.

Paris police said the current curfew in two designated zones — around Place de la République and the Les Halles shopping district — had restored “public peace” overnight and would remain in place “for as long as necessary”.

The curfew zones leave out other areas hit on Saturday, including the Champs-Elysées and the area around the Saint-Lazare train station and parts of the Rue de Turbigo in central Paris, where protesters set up barricades and lit fires.

At the weekend, hundreds of thousands of people took part in combined protests across France by students and people angry about the cost of living, in demonstrations accompanied by arson and looting that continued from Saturday into Sunday.

They stoked a febrile political atmosphere as candidates from the far right and far left lead ⁠the field for a presidential election next ​April and May.

The calm after the weekend chaos hands the government a short breather after weeks ⁠of protests that have exhausted police ⁠and public authorities. But new ​challenges await next Saturday.

Representatives of the Yellow Vest movement, which organised Saturday’s protest, declined to disown the violence and declared they would hold an “act two” protest this Saturday.

“We were asked to condemn the violence, the riots, the barricades. To condemn the anger of the people,” the organisers said in a statement.

“We refuse to add our voice to the chorus of indignation. We do not condemn this anger: we applaud it.”

France’s main student union UNEF said in a flyer posted on social media that it planned to keep up the pressure on president Emmanuel Macron and his government to fix what students and pupils say is a broken and under-financed education system.

Coming in the build-up to a presidential election in the spring, the scenes of looting and burning of famous buildings including Limoges town hall led to bitter political recriminations, with calls for Macron to resign or to declare a state of emergency.

After holding a crisis meeting on Monday, Lecornu said he was “absolutely determined to restore order” and did not rule out calling a state of emergency. “If needed, I will do it.”

However, he told reporters that for now targeted curfews were a better solution, and said he had asked local authorities to put them in place to prevent further nights of violence.

[  ‘There’s nothing left’: French businesses count the cost of a weekend of unrestOpens in new window ]

“The chaos, to put it bluntly, is focused in urban centres,” Lecornu said. “We are dealing with a very specific and widespread form of crime: looting and also reselling.”

The economy ministry met representatives of online retail platforms to discuss how to prevent looted goods from being re-sold and to seek assistance in identifying those seeking to sell stolen items.

At least 3,000 businesses were affected, according to the government, with damages expected to amount to hundreds of millions of euro.

Lecornu announced supports for ransacked businesses including furlough schemes for employees as he sought to staunch any wider economic damage.

“We need to get things back up and running very quickly. Obviously, we can’t risk losing jobs, and French businesses are major employers,” Lecornu said. “There‘s a need for cash flow. Many retailers had already stocked up for Christmas.”

Almost 2,400 people were arrested during the weekend unrest and nearly 1,000 police officers were injured, according to the interior ministry.

Interior minister Laurent Nuñez had offered to resign following the violence, admitting police had “lost control”. Macron did not accept his resignation, instead asking for clarity about why there were “intelligence and foresight failings”.

Nuñez announced that additional police forces would be deployed this weekend.

French stocks sank when financial markets opened on Monday. The government now faces the difficult task of passing a budget through a hung parliament, balancing strong public opposition to spending cuts and bond markets concerned about French national debt.

Representatives of the trade unions, which have called national demonstrations to demand pay increases on November 5th, have been invited to meet the government for talks on Wednesday. - Additional reporting: Agencies