French Prime Minister Sรฉbastien Lecornu says he has instructed prefects, the governmentโs regional representatives, to impose โvery limitedโ and โlocalizedโ curfews to prevent more rioting and looting, following weekend violence that targeted city halls, other public buildings and thousands of businesses across the country.
Speaking after an emergency meeting with top government officials, Lecornu said โon Saturday, despite scenes of severe violence and extensive property damage, no one was killed, and that is a miracleโ as he defended the work of police officers faced with violent groups of people.
Lecornu said details of the areas to be placed under curfew will be provided later Monday.
The instructions come as Interior Minister Laurent Nuรฑez offered his resignation Sunday, but President Emmanuel Macron refused it โgiven the need for continued command of law enforcement in the current context,โ Macronโs office said in a statement Monday.
He instructed Nuรฑez โto take all necessary steps to ensure full transparency about the failures in planning and intelligence-gathering that led to the violence,โ the statement said.
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Macron also asked for the introduction of โnew policing tactics on the ground as quickly as possibleโ to put an end to violent events.
On Sunday evening, groups set fires to trash bins, bicycles and other objects in the streets and looted businesses in Paris, Lyon, Marseille and other cities. That followed major violence during nationwide protests Saturday against rising living costs and poor conditions in schools. At least 2,400 people were arrested across the country.
Authorities estimated Monday that at least 3,000 businesses were damaged or looted in several cities in the weekend violence.
In Marseille, the prefect banned any protest or other gathering from noon to 8 p.m. Monday.
โI submitted my resignation because I am responsible for everything that is happening,โ Nuรฑez said on France Inter radio. โNow, the real issue is ensuring that this doesnโt happen again. โฆ We obviously need to be better at anticipating the kind of mobilization that is unfolding.โ
Nuรฑez blamed violence on โhordes of troublemakers and lootersโ and โfar-left activists,โ and said police strategy needs to be adapted โin the face of extremely mobile groups.โ Authorities said groups of hundreds of people sought confrontations with police and targeted public buildings, including city halls and other public offices.
Nuรฑez acknowledged that authorities had โlost controlโ in some major cities Saturday, when hundreds of businesses were looted.
โYou canโt look shopkeepers in the eye when hundreds of businesses have been looted and say we havenโt lost control in some of these major cities,โ Nuรฑez said.
Flames engulfed the 19th-century City Hall in Limoges, in central France, causing its roof to collapse and nearly destroying the building.
In Paris Monday, cleanup crews and firefighters cleared shattered glass and other debris from the streets.
Ouri Zagoury, owner of a video game shop near Parisโ Place de la Rรฉpublique, said he closed the store Saturday afternoon but then saw looters forcing their way in on surveillance cameras.
โThere were so many people coming in and out. And even though I called the police, they said not to intervene, that they would come, but they never did, which is another problem,โ Zagoury said.
Jordan Bardella, president of the far-right National Rally, pointed to the governmentโs failure to prevent violence. โThe government has failed, the head of state has failed in his essential duty of protecting the French people,โ he told reporters at party headquarters.
โI call on the people of France now, beyond their right to protest, to use their voting power,โ Bardella said. He is campaigning alongside far-right leader Marine Le Pen, whose polling numbers have for months suggested she is the front-runner in next springโs presidential election.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
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