Shops and residents in Paris are hastily preparing for new protests scheduled for this Saturday, following riots and looting last week that destroyed over 3,000 stores. This surge in unrest has driven legal weapon sales up tenfold, while President Emmanuel Macron has announced a ban on illegal protests and condemned extremist groups accused of trying to overthrow and undermine the republic.
The atmosphere in Paris, France, is tense ahead of the upcoming protests on Saturday. Many shop owners are urgently boarding up their storefront windows to prevent further damage after last weekend's riots and looting, which targeted roughly 3,000 stores nationwide and caused damage worth hundreds of millions of euros.
Yves Gallet, owner of a firearms store in Paris, told AFP that legal weapon sales have increased tenfold since the violence erupted last week. Some customers are shop owners worried about potential raids by rioters, leading to the depletion of certain items such as non-lethal rubber bullet devices.
Paris police reported that last weekend, 450 stores were damaged or vandalized, and 228 were looted. Many shop owners remain fearful, with some even sleeping at their damaged premises, confused as to why perpetrators targeted goods like paint and tools.
President Emmanuel Macron stated that France will ban illegal demonstrations in the coming days, accusing certain far-left political groups of orchestrating actions aimed at destabilizing the republic. However, protests organized by labor unions may continue but could be rerouted to protect businesses and shops.
Gérald Darmanin, the Minister of the Interior, proposed suspending voting rights for those violating protest bans and restricting social media access for individuals involved in violence, looting, or attacks on police.
Meanwhile, authorities in Marseille and Lyon—the second and third largest cities in France—have banned all planned protests on Saturday. Nonetheless, the country's main student union and the Yellow Vest movement plan to hold demonstrations in Paris. Additionally, Art Basel Paris, an international art fair, announced it will close for the weekend for safety reasons.
The riots reflect public dissatisfaction with rising living costs, particularly energy prices and household financial pressures, as well as concerns over declining public service quality. At the same time, political conflict over who is responsible for the unrest continues to intensify.
On the financial markets, investors have expressed concern over the situation in France. The spread between French government bond yields and German bonds—considered safe assets—widened to the highest level in 15 years on Thursday. Meanwhile, the yield on 10-year French government bonds rose to 5.14 percent, the highest since July 2002, indicating financial pressure amid the country's social and political uncertainty.