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France Protests: 143-Year-Old Limoges City Hall Destroyed As Cost-Of-Living Protests Turn Violent
France witnessed its worst violence in decades on Saturday as nationwide cost-of-living protests turned violent, leaving the historic 143-year-old Limoges City Hall largely destroyed.
The City Hall, inaugurated in 1883 and modelled after Paris City Hall, was set ablaze by masked protesters.
Footage showed its bell tower and roof collapsing. Prefect Maurice Barate described it as a “catastrophe for heritage” and a “deliberate act by hooligans.”
According to the Interior Ministry, about 550,000 people joined 110 marches nationwide, while organizers put the figure at 800,000. The protests began last month as peaceful student demonstrations over teacher shortages and dilapidated classrooms before broadening to include parents, teachers, workers and members of the CGT union demanding higher wages, pensions and better public services.
While most marches were peaceful, masked groups staged separate violent actions.
In Limoges, about 2,000 demonstrators gathered, with a group setting a police car ablaze before smashing windows and starting fire inside the town hall.
Other symbols were also targeted. In Lyon, the historic tourist office on Place Bellecour was torched. In Marseille, protesters stormed city hall and overturned a bust of Marianne. In Bordeaux, rioters broke into the prefect’s residence.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said over 2,000 people were arrested nationwide, including a record 855 in Paris, with over 600 police officers and firefighters injured. One protester died after suffering cardiac arrest in Paris.
French President Emmanuel Macron said “nothing justifies” the violence, vowing those who looted and torched buildings would be prosecuted and punished.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu blamed “ultra-left” groups and criminals, saying the government would not be intimidated.