France Burns in Protests as Macron Attends Concert, Drawing a Storm of Criticism

President Emmanuel Macron has faced intense criticism for being present at a Celine Dion concert on the night that protests against the rising cost of living across France turned violent.

According to French media reports, on Friday night Macron and his wife Brigitte were present at Dion's concert at the Plénitude Arena in Nanterre, west of Paris. It is reported that they arrived and left largely quietly among an audience of about 35,000.

Yet just before that, on Thursday and Friday, Macron had been at a European Council meeting in Brussels. At a press conference there on Friday, ahead of Saturday's planned protests, he called for maintaining 'calm and respect' and said the right to protest must be exercised with respect for people and property.

But on Saturday, those very protests changed into widespread violence. The programme, which began in protest against the rising cost of living, the situation in schools and the deterioration of public services, turned in various cities of the country into clashes with police, arson, looting and attacks on government buildings.

The French authorities said on Sunday that about 1,800 people had been arrested across the country, of whom 855 were in the Paris region alone. According to Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, more than 500 members of the police, gendarmerie and fire service were injured. The authorities also said that a protester died after suffering a heart attack during the protests in Paris.

In Limoges in central France, the city hall was deliberately set on fire, causing extensive damage to the historic building. In various cities including Paris, Bordeaux, Marseille and Lyon, shops were looted and government buildings were vandalised and set on fire.

According to the authorities' count, more than 550,000 people took part in the protests across the country. The organisers claim this number was about 800,000.

On Saturday evening, Macron condemned the destruction on social media. He wrote that those involved in destroying property, attacking government buildings and looting businesses would have to face trial and punishment. Expressing support for the law enforcement agencies, he also warned against attempts to weaken French institutions.

But his statement came after the violence had spread across many big cities. As a result, questions have been raised about the government's preparedness and its capacity to control the situation — and the matter of his presence at the concert has further fuelled that criticism.

The beginning of this unrest was different. It originated from a month-long student movement over school conditions and a teacher shortage in working-class suburbs. Later, it turned into a bigger movement against inequality, cuts in government spending and the rising cost of living.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has blamed 'far-left' groups and criminals for this violence. Opposition leaders, on the other hand, are blaming the government's policies.

Amid clearing the rubble and accounting for the damage, France is now trying to restore calm. But the debate over Macron's concert attendance shows that in this crisis, every step of the government will now remain under strict public scrutiny.