- By Paul Kirby in London and Hugh Schofield in Paris
- BBC News
March 24, 2023 at 09:43 GMT
Updated 4 minutes ago
video caption,
Watch: Bordeaux City Hall in flames
French officials say they are very much looking forward to King Charles III’s first state visit, despite violence at protests in several cities. Focus on Sunday.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said there were “no known threats”.
The king will visit Paris and Bordeaux, where the entrance to City Hall was set on fire on Thursday.
Mayor Pierre Hurmic said the trip had been adjusted so that it could be carried out “in the best security so as not to expose the king to the slightest difficulty”.
The trip, which begins Sunday, is set to include a drive down the Champs-Elysées in the heart of Paris and a banquet at Versailles with President Emmanuel Macron.
The highlight is a visit to Bordeaux on Tuesday, coinciding with the 10th nationwide protest unions are planning against the Macron government’s move to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 and increase the number of years of contributions.
The mayor told Radio France Info the city was “very motivated” to welcome King Charles and French authorities had been cooperating with the British embassy. He did not say what measures have been adjusted, but the king is unlikely to travel by tram in Bordeaux as originally planned.
“The final decision does not lie with the mayor of Bordeaux and I expect we will be in touch with the UK authorities and the prefecture about the visit,” Mr Hurmic said.
The ninth day of protests on Thursday drew more than a million people, according to France’s interior ministry, although unions put the number at 3.5 million.
About 300 demonstrations have been peaceful, but some protests have been marred by some of the worst scenes of violence since the demonstrations began in January.
Mr Darmanin said 457 people had been arrested and 441 members of the security forces injured across France. There were also dozens of injuries among protesters who were hit by flashbang grenades fired by riot police in several cities. In Rouen, a woman was hit in the hand and lost her thumb.
Much of the violence happened on the fringes of some demonstrations in Paris and other cities, including Bordeaux, and the home secretary said 903 fires had been lit on the capital’s streets alone.
A police officer who lost consciousness had to be taken to safety after apparently being hit on the head.
It was not clear who had set fire to the historic 18th-century gate of Bordeaux’s town hall, although firefighters extinguished it after a few minutes.
“I am very sad, shocked and angry that someone could attack City Hall, home to all of Bordeaux,” said the mayor, who had exited the building just minutes earlier. He promised that public service there would resume as usual on Friday morning.
In Paris, generally peaceful demonstrations were disrupted by occasional clashes between police and masked rioters, who smashed shop windows, attacked a McDonald’s restaurant and set fire to a kiosk.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne tweeted: “Demonstrating and voicing disagreements is a right. The violence and humiliation we have witnessed today is unacceptable. All my thanks go to the mobilized police and rescue services.”
picture description,
Striking firefighters were seen on the roof of a building in Paris during Thursday’s protests
The protesters appeared to have been agitated by a televised interview given by the President the day before, after his government used a constitutional power called the 49:3 to pass pension reform without a final vote in the National Assembly. Mr Macron said the reforms were an economic necessity and he was prepared to accept the resulting unpopularity.
“I heard Macron yesterday and it was like someone spit in our face,” said Adèle, a 19-year-old law student in Nanterre. “There is another way for this pension reform, and if it doesn’t, it’s because it doesn’t listen to people. There is a clear lack of democracy,” she told the BBC.
“We’ll get out until he repeals the pension reform,” warned firefighter Christophe Marin. “We got a little demotivated, but the announcement of the 49.3 mobilized the French – and us too.”
The riots also disrupted train services and caused teachers and workers at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport to walk out. Blockades at oil refineries and depots have begun to affect fuel supplies, and website Le Figaro said nearly 15% of service stations had run out of either petrol or diesel as of Thursday.
Unions and the political left believe the last day of strikes was a success, but what happens next is an open question.
President Macron was in Brussels during the protests at an EU summit. The government hopes they will lose momentum and that Thursday’s violence will put people off.
But the opposition says the protests will not let up, and the Paris garbage collector, which began its strike against pension reforms on March 6, has extended it until next Monday.
For more than two weeks, dustbins have been overflowing in many parts of Paris and the capital is not looking at its best ahead of King Charles’ trip.
Left-wing politicians have objected to the state visit’s timing, which Jean-Luc Mélenchon described as “not the right time”.
Green MP Sandrine Rousseau called for the cancellation and questioned the location of the royal banquet. “Is it really the priority that Charles III. to receive at Versailles? Certainly not,” she said on Wednesday.
British royalty has often been feted by French leaders at the Palace of Versailles since the 1789 Revolution.
Queen Victoria was received there in 1855 and even danced with Napoleon III. George VI visited before World War II and Elizabeth II paid her first visit as Queen in 1952.
video caption,
Video: Rubbish and e-scooters burned during pension protests in France
Additional reporting by Marianne Baisnée.