A calm night in France after curfews: PM says targeted restrictions steadied Paris and other cities

France passed a quiet night following a weekend of riots and looting after targeted curfews were imposed, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has said. In his account, the curfews introduced in different areas helped keep the overnight situation under control.

Curfews were imposed across parts of central Paris, including Place de la République, where protesters had gathered over the weekend, and the Les Halles shopping area. Both places had borne some of the clearest marks of the weekend disorder.

The measures were not limited to Paris. Restrictions on the movement of young people and on gatherings were also introduced in Marseille, Bordeaux, Nice and Lyon in the south, as well as Lille and other towns in the north, with the form of the restrictions varying by area on the decision of local authorities.

Lecornu thanked police officers and gendarmes for enforcing the measures. He added that whether further curfews would be needed on Tuesday night would be decided depending on where they were necessary.

Writing in a post on X, the prime minister said decisions would be made "on the ground" — meaning French regions and local mayors would judge the situation in their own areas and decide where a curfew was needed and where it was not.

Yet the handling of the unrest has also exposed strains inside the government. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez admitted that police had "lost control" in some cities. He had faced strong criticism from opposition politicians over the preparedness for the disorder.

Under that criticism, Nuñez offered his resignation on Monday, but President Emmanuel Macron rejected it. He therefore remains in post, still carrying responsibility for managing the situation.

According to officials, more than 2,500 people have been arrested since the disorder broke out. The AFP news agency reported that one demonstrator's hand was blown off by a police crowd-control grenade. About 1,000 police officers were injured.

The protests first began last month with students demanding better school conditions. They later escalated to take in a broader range of concerns, with numbers at demonstrations bolstered by trade unions and various protest groups.

Over the weekend, those protests turned into rioting and looting in several cities, pushing the government towards measures as tough as curfews. One calm night has not fully eased the administration's concerns — leaving Tuesday night's decisions to local conditions is itself a sign of that caution.

In the coming hours, attention will rest on two questions — where curfews are lifted or newly imposed, and whether the discontent that began as a student movement returns to the streets in force. For now, the government's claim is that the situation is moving towards control.