On Saturday night, masked demonstrators set fire to the historic City Hall of Limoges, a 143‑year‑old landmark inaugurated in 1883 and modelled on Paris’s own Hôtel de Ville. The blaze caused the bell tower and roof to collapse, destroying two‑thirds of the building’s exterior and prompting officials to describe the incident as a “catastrophe for heritage.” The attack occurred amid a wave of nationwide protests against France’s rising cost of living.
The unrest began last month as a peaceful student movement over long school hours, teacher shortages, dilapidated classrooms and an opaque university admissions system. Over the following weeks, the protests broadened to include parents, teachers, grandparents, workers and members of the General Confederation of Labour (CGT), who demanded higher wages, lower prices, larger pensions and more funding for public services. Tens of thousands marched peacefully in Paris, while separate masked groups staged violent gatherings, burned barricades and clashed with police across the country.
According to the Haute‑Vienne prefecture, about 2,000 demonstrators gathered in Limoges on Saturday. Around 6 p.m. a group forced entry into the town hall, set a police car ablaze outside, smashed windows and ignited the interior. Prefect Maurice Barate told AFP that “the roof has collapsed onto lower floors, except the west wing, and two‑thirds of the exterior has already disappeared,” calling the act “deliberate” and a “catastrophe for heritage.”
Similar attacks on public symbols were reported in several other cities:
- Lyon – the historic tourist office on Place Bellecour was set on fire.
- Marseille – rioters stormed city hall, overturned furniture, toppled a bust of Marianne and surrounded a municipal police station.
- Bordeaux – the official residence of the prefect of Gironde was broken into and set ablaze, prompting deployment of the elite RAID unit.
- Lille – municipal buildings were targeted and a group forced entry into the town hall.
- Attempts were also reported in Calais and Brest.
“Nothing justifies the violence seen in nationwide protests,” President Emmanuel Macron said in a national address. “Those who destroyed government buildings will be held accountable and will pay for their crime.”
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez reported that several hundred shops were damaged, more than 600 police, firefighters and paramedics were injured, and over 2,000 people were arrested – a record 855 arrests in Paris alone. A 17‑year‑old lost his right hand to a crowd‑control grenade in Saint‑Étienne, and one protester died of cardiac arrest in Paris.
Local officials condemned the attacks. Limoges Mayor Guillaume Guérin described the assailants as “people organised for war,” noting that municipal police ran out of ammunition and threatening to resign if repair funds were not provided. Marseille’s Socialist mayor Benoît Payan and Lyon’s Green mayor Grégory Doucet similarly denounced the destruction of public buildings and called for a review of policing tactics.
<small>Source: Vanguard News — read the original story there.</small>
