France Orders Partial Curfews as Weekend Riots Leave 2,300 Arrested and Shops Looted

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu on Monday asked regional authorities to impose partial, localised curfews in some cities. He was trying to stop a wave of looting that grew out of nationwide protests over the cost of living and the state of French schools. He ruled out putting all of Paris under a curfew. The aim, he said, is to protect businesses that have been hit night after night since Saturday.

Marseille, France's third-largest city, moved first. The prefecture for the Bouches-du-Rhone region banned public gatherings from noon until 8 pm with immediate effect, after rioters damaged the historic city hall and hit hundreds of shops in the centre.

How a school protest became a national crisis

The unrest grew out of weeks of demonstrations by high school students over crowded classrooms, teacher shortages and years of underinvestment. Over time, those protests merged with wider anger about fuel prices and household costs. Saturday's national day of action drew about 550,000 people according to the Interior Ministry, including some 110,000 in Paris. Organisers put the total closer to 800,000.

Most marches were peaceful. On the fringes, masked groups attacked town halls, police stations and shopping streets in Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, Nantes and Rennes. Looting continued on Sunday and into Monday morning. Paris Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire said about 30 shops in the capital were targeted on Sunday alone.

Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said more than 2,330 people were taken into custody over the weekend, about 70% of them adults. Nearly 1,000 police officers and gendarmes were injured on Saturday.

A government on the back foot

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez admitted that police had lost control in several big cities. He said the roughly 60,000 officers deployed nationwide were not enough for the crowds and offered his resignation. President Emmanuel Macron refused it, saying the chain of command had to stay intact. He told Nunez to come up with new methods for dealing with looters and to explain the planning and intelligence failures behind the weekend.

The timing is awkward for the government. France's next presidential election is about six months away, and opponents on both left and right are already using the riots against it. Marseille's Socialist mayor Benoit Payan blamed understaffed police, while far-right figures blamed immigration.

The economic bill

For retailers, the damage is already large. Alexandre Bompard, who heads the FCD retail federation and runs Carrefour, estimated that about 1,500 businesses were directly affected and that losses run to several hundred million euros. He warned that the final figure could rise. Marseille's chamber of commerce said more than 600 businesses in the city centre were damaged, about twice as many as in the 2023 riots.

Commerce Minister Serge Papin called an emergency meeting with retail chains, craftspeople, restaurant owners, banks and insurers to speed up compensation. Industry groups want a fast-track process like the one used after natural disasters. They point out that many policies do not cover lost trading days, and small shops may not have the cash to wait.

The timing also hurts the retail calendar. Trade groups say a quick return to calm matters before the busy end-of-year shopping season, when stores can least afford extended closures.

For investors, the unrest adds to a list of worries about France's finances and politics. Compensation for businesses and extra policing will add to public spending at a time when the government is already struggling to keep its budget on track.

This is an original summary based on public reporting. See our editorial policy for how we source, write, and correct our stories.