Last month, students in Paris's poorer northern suburbs rallied over teacher shortages and crumbling school facilities. Their chants quickly turned into a nationwide call against rising living costs and a perceived erosion of France's social safety net.
On Thursday, 29 April, police officers in the heart of Paris—around the Champs‑Élysées and the Arc de Triomphe—unleashed tear gas on a crowd of roughly 30,000 demonstrators. The forceful response came after protesters blocked official routes and shouted slogans demanding lower fuel prices and greater public spending.
Similar hostilities erupted in Marseille, where protestors hurled metal balls at officers, who replied with tear gas. The incident added a flashpoint to a broader wave of unrest that could involve 200,000 people nationwide according to organisers.
Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu warned that the unrest could spill over, while the government accused the hard‑left group France Unbowed of inflaming tensions—a claim the group denied.
Lecornu announced that a cabinet meeting will be convened on 1 May to coordinate a security response and consider policy measures to address the cost‑of‑living crisis.