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AFP
Paris
Three days from Christmas, fewer French “yellow vests” turned out for a sixth Saturday of protests, targeting border points as a fatal road accident brought the death toll to 10 since the movement began last month.
Around 23,800 people joined demonstrations across France, compared with 33,500 a week earlier, the Interior Ministry said.
In Paris, the scene of violent clashes during previous demonstrations, around 2,000 protesters joined rallies scattered around the city, police said at midday. As evening fell, violence clashes broke out on the iconic Champs-Elysees avenue, where many shops had remained opened for business in the busy weekend before Christmas.
Junior economy minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher told BFM television that French stores reported an average drop-off of 25 percent in sales compared with the same period a year earlier.
She also warned that thousands of jobs might be at risk and that some smaller businesses faced cash-flow problems. Paris police said 109 people had been detained, including a “yellow vest” leader, Eric Drouet. Authorities were also posted at the Palace of Versailles outside Paris which was closed to visitors.
Near the border between France and Spain hundreds of protesters disrupted traffic as they gathered around an autoroute toll booth.
Police fired tear gas to disperse the “yellow vests” who retreated to a bridge, an AFP photographer at the scene said.
France borders the Catalan region of Spain, and the protesters were joined by dozens of Catalan pro-independence activists, also wearing yellow vests.
The separatists often block highways to protest against Madrid’s rejection of Catalonia’s independence referendum in October 2017.
Even though their goals are different, “this demonstration at the Boulou (toll booth) is symbolic, it shows the solidarity between the Spanish Catalans and the French,” said Marcel, a 49-year-old winegrower.
Paris
Three days from Christmas, fewer French “yellow vests” turned out for a sixth Saturday of protests, targeting border points as a fatal road accident brought the death toll to 10 since the movement began last month.
Around 23,800 people joined demonstrations across France, compared with 33,500 a week earlier, the Interior Ministry said.
In Paris, the scene of violent clashes during previous demonstrations, around 2,000 protesters joined rallies scattered around the city, police said at midday. As evening fell, violence clashes broke out on the iconic Champs-Elysees avenue, where many shops had remained opened for business in the busy weekend before Christmas.
Junior economy minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher told BFM television that French stores reported an average drop-off of 25 percent in sales compared with the same period a year earlier.
She also warned that thousands of jobs might be at risk and that some smaller businesses faced cash-flow problems. Paris police said 109 people had been detained, including a “yellow vest” leader, Eric Drouet. Authorities were also posted at the Palace of Versailles outside Paris which was closed to visitors.
Near the border between France and Spain hundreds of protesters disrupted traffic as they gathered around an autoroute toll booth.
Police fired tear gas to disperse the “yellow vests” who retreated to a bridge, an AFP photographer at the scene said.
France borders the Catalan region of Spain, and the protesters were joined by dozens of Catalan pro-independence activists, also wearing yellow vests.
The separatists often block highways to protest against Madrid’s rejection of Catalonia’s independence referendum in October 2017.
Even though their goals are different, “this demonstration at the Boulou (toll booth) is symbolic, it shows the solidarity between the Spanish Catalans and the French,” said Marcel, a 49-year-old winegrower.
