France on Fire: Protesters torch streets as Macron faces revolt

France descended into chaos on Wednesday as furious protesters launched a “Block Everything” campaign, setting streets ablaze, mounting flaming barricades, and crippling transport links in Paris and other cities.

By 8am, more than 70 arrests had been made in the capital alone, with riot police battling hooded demonstrators who targeted the Eurostar hub at Gare du Nord and blocked major roads with burning bins and tyres.

Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said 80,000 security forces had been deployed nationwide, including 6,000 in Paris to contain the unrest. But with protests spreading to Marseille, Bordeaux, Nantes, and Lyon, the government was struggling to keep order.

The revolt comes barely 24 hours after President Emmanuel Macron installed his seventh prime minister in nine years, Sébastien Lecornu, tasked with forcing through an unpopular austerity budget that slashes pensions, freezes welfare, and axes public holidays.

But Macron’s opponents are in no mood for compromise. The powerful CGT union has thrown its weight behind the uprising, while the online collective Bloquons Tout (“Let’s Block Everything”) is mobilising mass disobedience, urging people to storm supermarkets, blockade highways, and shut down fuel depots.

On social media, the campaign is already being compared to the infamous Yellow Vest riots of 2018 that shook Macron’s presidency and caused billions in damage.

“The fall of the government is good, but it’s not enough,” one union declared, as masked protesters lit fires across French cities and clashed with police armed with tear gas.