By Janis Laizans, STAMOS PROUSALIS and Yann Tessier
PARIS, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Rioting erupted in cities across France on Saturday as demonstrations against rising living costs and declining public services spiralled out of control in some of the worst violence the country has witnessed for decades.
While hundreds of thousands protested peacefully in street marches in scores of cities, violent fringe groups targeted public buildings, looted luxury boutiques and supermarkets and attacked police vehicles and officers.
In Limoges the city hall was set ablaze, in Marseille black-clad protesters broke into City Hall and defaced the building with anarchic graffiti and in Lyon protesters torched the city's tourist office.
French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said the government would not be "intimidated" by violence, and blamed the unrest on the "far-left" and criminals just months before a presidential election next year.
"To those who clearly want to use this violence as a 'warm-up' before the presidential election, I say clearly: We will not let ourselves be intimidated. No one will impose their political agenda through violence," he wrote in a post on X.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told reporters that about 400 people had been arrested after violent incidents, most of whom were adults.
Around 550,000 people had participated in the demonstrations across the country, he said. The CGT union told Reuters it estimated protesters at 800,000 people.
President Emmanuel Macron vowed to prosecute and punish people who had performed such attacks.
"We will all stand united against the sowers of chaos, who only seek to undermine our institutions and prevent those who peacefully express their demands from doing so," he wrote in a post on X.
Belgium, Portugal and Italy also faced smaller-scale protests on Saturday as living costs rise in Europe, while protesters in Albania again rallied against perceived government corruption, a lack of jobs and poor education standards.
Protesters said most people had marched peacefully, and put much of the violence down to troublemakers who had set out to cause damage and clash with the police. Many held signs bearing slogans against the police, the president and the wealthy.
"We are fighting because the cost of living is too harsh, because the price of fuel is too high, because high school pupils are being violently attacked and hurt all over the country just for trying to protest and ask for more teachers and decent learning conditions," said Lola, a 19-year-old protester in Paris.
TEAR GAS, FIRE AND LOOTING
Most protests kicked off around midday, with some beginning before the official start of the demonstrations.
In some parts of Paris, police fired tear gas rounds as they retreated in the face of mostly young protesters, many of whom were dressed in black and wore hoodies, masks and goggles to protect against tear gas.
Rioters tried to break into the Galeries Lafayette department store, smashed up banks, ransacked a Lacoste store as well as other boutiques and looted an SFR mobile phone shop. Protesters had been setting objects ablaze all day, including numerous cars.
In protests partly inspired by those in France, several hundred mostly young people protested in Brussels, and some clashed with police. Belgian student groups have said they are protesting against rising education costs and reforms they fear will make higher education less accessible.
In Albania, police fired what appeared to be rubber bullets at protesters during a fifth day of mass student demonstrations calling for Prime Minister Edi Rama to step down.
In Portugal, tens of thousands took to the streets of Lisbon following days of unrest to protest against housing and other living costs. Housing prices in Portugal have doubled since 2017, fuelling one of the worst affordability crises in Europe.
In Italy, a march against high costs of living in Milan degenerated into disorder, with police clearing the central cathedral square with tear gas. Police in Bologna used water cannons to try to disperse crowds and made seven arrests after another protest turned violent, the ANSA news agency reported.
FRENCH POLICE RESPONSE UNDER SCRUTINY
The protests in France began last month at high schools in Paris' working-class northern suburbs, where anger over teacher shortages and shabby facilities evolved into a broader movement focused on inequality, public spending and living standards.
In Paris on Saturday, protesters in high-visibility vests blocked streets, recalling the Yellow Vest movement that marked President Emmanuel Macron's previous term in office.
Saturday's protests eclipsed the size of the crowds at the peak of the Yellow Vest movement, though they were far lower than the levels seen at the protests in 2023 against Macron's pension overhaul.
Macron is entering the final stretch of his presidency, facing a fragmented political landscape and growing pressure over the economy.
France's efforts to reduce public debt have failed to reassure investors, pushing government borrowing costs to their highest levels in over two decades.
Police tactics have drawn criticism following injuries among demonstrators, including a teenager who lost a hand after picking up a stun grenade. The police watchdog is investigating at least two dozen allegations of police violence.
Lecornu said more than 900 police officers had also been injured in previous protests.
Nunez said one person lost his hand in clashes with police on Saturday. French media reported he tried to pick up a stun grenade.
The UNSA police union posted a video on X showing crowds attacking police vans with clubs and bricks in multiple locations. The union warned the government police forces were at breaking point.
“Today again, in every corner of France, our colleagues are being used as punching bags. Pelted with stones, injured, trapped in real ambushes,” the union said. “Let everyone take responsibility: this cannot go on indefinitely. The rope is stretched to its maximum."
(Reporting by Janis Laizans, Stamos Prousalis, Yann Tessier, Clotaire Achi, Abdul Saboor, Dominique Vidalon, Makini Brice, Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris, Stephane Mahe in Nantes, Petra Wischgoll in Strasbourg, Marc Leras in Marseille; Writing by Sybille de La Hamaide; Editing by Hugh Lawson, Mark Potter, Timothy Heritage and Chizu Nomiyama )
