France is mounting one of its largest peacetime security operations this Saturday, with some 70,000 police and gendarmes deployed nationwide as authorities seek to prevent a repeat of the violence that overshadowed otherwise peaceful demonstrations last weekend. The Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay, the Picasso museum and the Grand Palais in Paris will all be closed, and Art Basel has cancelled its weekend program after opening for a single day.
The unrest last Saturday saw masked groups loot shops, storm public buildings and clash with police in several cities, leaving many business owners traumatised and wary. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said at a news conference that police would be "absolutely uncompromising" with anyone involved in violence, and that elite units would protect city halls and other public buildings in a "highly mobile" operation. Helicopters, armoured vehicles and water cannons will also be deployed.
Nuñez pointed to calls on social media from radical far-left groups urging violence and vandalism, as well as renewed messages encouraging looting. "We will have a very firm approach to making arrests, and there will be legal consequences," he warned.
Protests planned across the country
Demonstrators are expected to take to the streets in Paris, Marseille and many other cities to denounce the cost-of-living crisis and inadequate school conditions. Students, members of the CGT labour union and activists from the "yellow vest" movement are set to join. Some protests have been banned in Lyon, Nice and Montpellier for security reasons, and authorities have diverted several routes away from shopping streets and public buildings to limit potential damage.
The security operation comes as France's economy shows signs of strain, with the country's economy contracting again amid broader eurozone weakness. The protests add to a tense political climate ahead of next spring's presidential election.
In Orléans, south of Paris, around 50 organisations have called for a counter-demonstration against the far right on the sidelines of Marine Le Pen's two-day party congress. Labour unions, left-wing parties, student groups and anti-racism activists are among the organisers. Hugues Moutouh, the prefect of the Loiret region, said 20,000 to 30,000 demonstrators from across the country were expected. Le Pen, who leads in opinion polls for the 2027 election, accused left-wing groups of trying to "disrupt a political party's democratic congress" in an interview on FranceInfo.
Businesses on edge
The manager of a supermarket in central Paris that was looted last weekend told European Pulse on condition of anonymity that his team remains on edge despite the bolstered security. The shop will stay open in the morning, he said, and he will "assess the situation" later in the day.
"We have a metal shutter and we've added some plywood, but we know that these metal shutters took about a minute and a half for protestors to break through," he said. "Unless we implement security like banks have, there's really no way to stop them. Last weekend they arrived in huge groups, used bricks, it was incredibly violent."
When teenagers ransacked his supermarket last Saturday, overwhelmed police were unable to intervene. The next day, law enforcement pushed back the gangs. Many staff remain traumatised. "Frankly, I haven't had a proper rest in about 13 days," the manager said. "We're all under a lot of pressure. There's a palpable tension, and we're trying to manage it, but there's a risk that something bad will happen."
The closures and security measures echo the security council convened by President Emmanuel Macron earlier this week. Some French MEPs have called public order a "big failure" as unrest spreads, and the situation is being closely watched across Europe. The Art Basel Paris fair had opened to the public on Friday but organisers cancelled the weekend programme, saying "the safety of everyone involved in the fair remains our utmost priority."
Authorities are hoping that the massive deployment and the closure of iconic venues will deter troublemakers, but the tension in the streets and among business owners is palpable. As one Parisian shopkeeper put it, "We've worked so hard to clean and restock. But we know that if it happens again, it could be even worse."
