Mass demonstrations, transport chaos and clashes between police and some of the participants in the nationwide protests on Wednesday.
The trade union CGT (Confédération générale du travail) claimed that the protests gathered over one million participants, which means that the protest was the largest since the major demonstrations in 2023 that were directed against Macron and the then government's proposed pension reform.
Traffic disruptions
The Ministry of the Interior and the French police usually have lower figures on the number of participants than the trade union organizers, but the Ministry of the Interior's information has not yet been made public.
In several places, riot police clashed with groups of demonstrators in the capital Paris and in the port city of Marseille. Tear gas was used against groups that arranged protests without permission.
Trade unions have called for a strike, around a third of teachers have laid down their work and nine out of ten pharmacies closed on Thursday. Additionally, travelers are affected by severe traffic disruptions in Paris' subway, where only three driverless automated lines are running as usual.
"We are tired"
The goal is to show the government that we are here, that we are tired of being taxed like crazy, that we are tired of having problems making ends meet on the 15th of the month, said garbage truck driver Samuel Gaillard.
Last week, the country's new Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu was sworn in. He has promised to break with the past, but it does not seem to have helped to calm the people's anger.
Emmanuel Macron has one and a half years left on the presidential post and is currently leading the country with his lowest popularity figures so far.
