France protests: 1,800 arrested after violent clashes, looting; students call for 'concrete measures' ahead of Macron's address

At least 1,800 people have been arrested by the French police on Sunday—a day after the country erupted in violent protests over the rising cost of living and poor school conditions.

The police have said that more than 850 of the arrests were made from the capital region itself, after about 550,000 people took part in the protests, as per the Interior Ministry, though organisers estimated numbers at about 800,000.

More than 500 police officers, gendarmes and firefighters were also injured, as per Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, who condemned the mass disorder and violence in an X post.

Local media reports note that in various cities, it was a combination of large crowds of protesters and smaller groups of people that sparked the violence.

Nunez and French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu later attributed the violence—in cities like Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Bordeaux, Rennes, Strasbourg, Grenoble, Nice, Limoges and more—to "radical far-left groups" and said that other masked groups later joined to steal things and add to the disorder.

Visuals of the violence in Limoges went particularly viral, after its 19th-century City Hall, which has survived World Wars, was torched on Saturday, causing its roof to collapse.

Haute-Vienne prefect Maurice Barate told French TV network LCI that the fire was deliberately set and nearly destroyed the building. It was brought under control by Sunday.

As businesses already weakened by years of successive crises now attempt an uncertain recovery, National Assembly President Yaël Braun-Pivet is mulling opening a probe into the Saturday protests.

"This commission of inquiry will aim to shed full light on the scenes of chaos and looting we witnessed and on those responsible, to provide answers to elected officials, shopkeepers and all the victims of yesterday's violence, but also to citizens who are wondering about the extent of the unrest and the response that was given to them," she said in a statement, as per a BFMTV report.

While French President Emmanuel Macron will address the public on Sunday at 8 PM (local time), PM Lecornu will chair an inter-ministerial meeting on Monday at 10 AM.

High school students, who were a major part of Saturday's protests, will be particularly attentive to Macron's speech, the report added, with a spokesperson pointing out that the only thing that could bring them back to classrooms is when "our daily lives have improved and we can study in good conditions".

"We are now waiting for (Macron) to tell us that he has heard us, but not only that, for him to put in place concrete measures for high school students," the spokesperson added, reiterating the key demands of the 'Les Lycéens!' movement: abolition of Parcoursup (the French national admissions platform for first-year higher education programmes in the country), recruitment of school nurses, assistance for differently-abled students with disabilities, and the reform of school schedules, among others.