Workers in Paris swept up broken glass and towed away burnt-out cars on Sunday after the latest violent
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December 9 2018 10:23 AM
Workers in Paris swept up broken glass and towed away burnt-out cars on Sunday after the latest violent “yellow vest” protest while the government announced that President Emmanuel Macron would address the nation in the next few days.
On Saturday, anti-government protesters wrecked havoc in the city for the fourth weekend in a row, hurling missiles, torching cars and vandalising shops and restaurants.
Across the city, bank branch offices, toy shops, opticians and other retail outlets had boarded up storefronts smashed by protesters, and walls were covered in anti-Macron slogans.
“You won’t make it past Christmas, Emmanuel,” read the graffiti on a boarded-up shop near the Champs Elysees boulevard.
Macron, elected in May 2017, is facing mounting criticism for not speaking in public in more than a week as violence worsened.
The upheaval in the Christmas shopping season has dealt a heavy blow to retailing, the tourist industry and the manufacturing sector as road blocks disrupt supply chains.
On Saturday, the Eiffel Tower and other monuments and museums closed their doors for security reasons, as did top department stores on what should have been a peak shopping day.
The protest movement will have “a severe impact” on the French economy, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told Reuters on Sunday as he toured an upmarket central Paris neighbourhood that had seen heavy looting Saturday night.
“We must expect a new slowdown of economic growth at year-end due to the “yellow vest” protests,” Le Maire said, adding that he would provide more details in coming days.
Prior to the protests, economists had been expecting growth to pick up after a weak first half of the year as tax cuts aimed at boosting purchasing power took effect.
“EVERYTHING IS BROKEN”
Gregory Caray, owner of two furniture shops in the heart of Paris, said he was relieved to see that his shop had not been vandalised, but the protective wooden boards over its windows were plastered with graffiti.
