Overview

• Authorities projected 600,000 to 900,000 participants and deployed about 80,000 police and gendarmes, with riot units, drones, armoured vehicles and water cannon on standby.
• Disruptions included roughly one in three primary teachers on strike, about 90% of pharmacies closed, severe constraints on the Paris Metro with only three driverless lines running normally, heavy hits to regional trains while most TGVs operated, and a 1.1 GW nuclear output reduction at EDF.
• Police used tear gas to disperse unauthorized early actions in Paris and Marseille, protesters blocked bus depots and roads in several cities, students barricaded school entrances, and authorities reported detentions.
• Unions demanded scrapping the proposed €44 billion spending cuts, boosting public services, taxing the wealthy more, and reversing the pension age increase to 64.
• Lecornu met opposition parties as the Socialists threatened a no-confidence move if austerity persists, with France’s Fitch downgrade and a deficit near twice the EU’s 3% ceiling sharpening the stakes.