Violent unrest gripped much of France Friday night, after French President Emmanuel Macron's deeply unpopular pension overhaul was greenlit by the country's top judges despite months of strikes and protests against the measure.
On Friday, France's Constitutional Council ruled that legislation to push the retirement age back from 62 to 64 was in keeping with the French Republic's founding charter, which cleared the way for Macron to enact the law.
The legislation is loathed by much of the country and sparked discontent after the decision was announced, with large protests formed in many areas that quickly turned violent.
According to the Daily Mail, demonstrations took place in several major French cities including Paris, Lyon, Toulouse, Rennes and Nantes. Police fired tear gas into the crowds in Lyon and Strasbourg, while in Paris they used water cannons to control the streets.
Citing French media reports, the Mail reported that protesters marched on the center of Paris, with 3,000 people already gathered outside city hall by 5 p.m. British Summer Time (BST).
Parisian demonstrators set off flares and torched bicycles outside City Hall and garbage cans and other items were set ablaze in surrounding parts of the city.
Hastily erected barricades made of metal, wood, garbage cans and fire went up in Paris and protesters marched to the Place de la Bastille, where the notorious Bastille prison once stood.
According to the Mail, police arrested some protesters, including about a dozen young people who were detained by officers wielding batons and tear gas.
In Nantes, protesters created lines of burning trash cans in an effort to disrupt major transportation routes and some protesters threw bottles and other projectiles at police, causing them to respond with water cannons.
Just after 8 p.m. BST, demonstrators put a match to the entranceway of a Nantes police station; a water cannon was used to knock down the flames.
Two in three French citizens are reportedly against Macron's pension reform and protests have been nearly a weekly occurrence since January. The council's approval will more closely align France with other European Union countries on the issue of retirement age.
While visiting a supermarket outside Paris on Friday, French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne was heckled by a group of people chanting, 'We don't want it!' according to the Mail.
The government's decision to circumvent a parliamentary vote last month by using special constitutional powers only added to the rage of the legislation's opponents. Another group of protesters greeted the prime minister in the parking lot.
"We're in a democracy, so everyone can express themselves," Borne told news station BFM TV. "My priority is to bring calm."
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.