France Reports 1,314 Arrests as Second Weekend of Protests Ends in Clashes

French police made more than 1,300 arrests on Saturday as a second straight weekend of mass protests over living costs and run-down schools ended in clashes in Paris and several other cities, though the authorities managed to avoid a repeat of the looting that shook the country a week earlier.

The Interior Ministry put the final count at 1,314 people detained nationwide and said 53 police officers and gendarmes had been injured. By the ministry's estimate, about 410,000 people marched across France, roughly 110,000 of them in Paris. Union organizers said the true turnout was close to double that figure.

The government had deployed more than 70,000 officers for the day, along with an elite police unit usually reserved for counterterrorism and other high-risk operations, which Laurent Nuñez, the interior minister, said would back up other forces without taking part directly in crowd control. Several cities, among them Lyon, barred marches from their centers, and earlier in the week President Emmanuel Macron issued a decree allowing only demonstrations organized by recognized trade unions. In central Paris, many shop windows were boarded up and several major museums, including the Louvre, stayed closed for the day.

In Paris, the main march set out in a festive mood from Porte d'Italie on the edge of the city and followed the outer boulevards toward Porte de Vincennes. Trouble broke out near the end of the route after dark. Police used tear gas and water cannon on the crowd, while groups of masked young people built barricades, threw objects at officers and broke the glass at an auto showroom. Nuñez said about 500 of those at the back of the march were rioters. Earlier in the day, Paris police said they had carried out more than 3,000 checks and made 65 arrests in the capital.

There were also confrontations in Marseille and in Lyon, where police fired tear gas to break up a group of about 150 people, most of them high school and university students, gathered in an area the authorities had put off limits.

As the night went on, Nuñez said the arrest total was likely to keep climbing, and he said two protesters had been seriously hurt. In Toulouse, a man of 20 lost several fingers on one hand when an explosive device went off near him, according to a street medic who treated him. The other was hurt in Clermont-Ferrand.

The weekend before, on Oct. 17, marches that began peacefully were followed by looting, arson and vandalism in which businesses were ransacked and buildings set alight, some of the worst disorder France has seen in years. Saturday's security plan was built to prevent a repeat.

The movement is being driven largely by high school and university students angry about the poor state of French schools and the climbing price of everyday goods.

The unrest comes as France heads toward a presidential election next spring, when Macron must step down after two terms. The first round is due in April, with a runoff in May.

The protests were not limited to France. In Italy, police briefly clashed with demonstrators in Rome and Turin, and a small group of protesters in Rome attempted to push into the ancient Colosseum. Demonstrators also marched in Spain and Portugal, where the grievances ranged from pensions to housing, and a large crowd rallied in Madrid to defend pension guarantees.

In Albania, more than 2,000 police officers were deployed in the capital, Tirana, where police fired tear gas and turned water cannon on crowds. The protests there began in May over a planned luxury resort linked to the family of U.S. President Donald Trump and have since been joined by students demanding lower tuition and an end to corruption, with many calling on Prime Minister Edi Rama to resign.