Demonstrators clashed with police as anger mounts over budget cuts and President Macron’s policies. On Wednesday, French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau informed that 473 people — 203 of them in the Paris region — were arrested during the first day of protests organized by the “Let’s Block Everything” movement.

Authorities acknowledged that about 175,000 people actively took part in nearly a thousand protest actions across the country, even though France was “shielded” with 80,000 police officers deployed in the streets.

While there were no stoppages in essential public service infrastructure, demonstrators staged targeted boycotts on some train lines, such as the route between Toulouse and Auch, and attempted to storm tracks at Paris’ Gare du Nord, the busiest railway station in Europe.

Activists also managed to temporarily block highways and ring roads in major cities including Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Rennes.

Paris was one of the epicenters of the protests. Parts of the city center were closed to traffic, and there were instances of looting in the Les Halles shopping district, where the facade of an Asian restaurant was set on fire.

In an attempt to downplay the unrest, Interior Minister Retailleau said the protests “have nothing to do with a citizen mobilization” because they are being “distorted” by “the far left.”

In the days leading up to the demonstrations, “Let’s Block Everything” activists used social media to call on citizens to oppose the 2026 budget cuts prepared by former Prime Minister François Bayrou and which President Emmanuel Macron appears determined to push through at all costs.

Public anger grew because those cuts are coupled with new public debt intended to meet budgetary commitments with the European Union. On Monday, the National Assembly voted no confidence in Bayrou, who was replaced by Sebastien Lecornu, a conservative politician and close ally of Macron.

One of the “Let’s Block Everything” movement’s driving themes — which shares similarities with the 2018 “Yellow Vests” for its nonpartisan nature and reliance on social media — is the fight against wealth inequality and resentment toward Macron.

From Paris’ Place de la Republique, cordoned off by police, thousands of people joined one of the day’s largest demonstrations. “The government doesn’t listen to us and acts as it pleases without taking us into account,” said an 18-year-old student holding a homemade sign linking today’s governance in France with the causes of the 1789 French Revolution.

A 56-year-old man named Rachid criticized wealth distribution since Macron came to power in 2017. “There’s money in this country, but it’s badly distributed. It’s always the same people who get richer and richer. The main fortunes have multiplied their wealth 14 or 15 times, while ordinary citizens can’t make it to the end of the month,” said the small construction entrepreneur, who had Lebanese, Palestinian and Algerian flags draped over his shoulders.