France is on high alert ahead of fresh nationwide protests on Saturday, a week after some of the country's worst unrest in decades, with demonstrators vowing to keep pressing their demands for educational equity and greater purchasing power.
French President Emmanuel Macron has banned "illegal" demonstrations and ordered measures including public transport closures and curfews, after more than 500,000 people rallied across the country last Saturday in demonstrations marred by violence and looting.
Marseille, France's second-largest city, saw some of the worst violence last week. Experts say the port city offers a stark illustration of the country's compounded problems, from inequality and urban decay to immigration, integration, gentrification and social tension.
Nowhere is that clearer than in the city's third arrondissement -- among the poorest neighborhoods not only in France but in all of Europe, where more than half of residents live below the poverty line.
On its basketball courts, young people say they will take part in Saturday's demonstrations despite the ban.
"Just surviving has just become too expensive. We have to protest for our lives, for ourselves, for our future," said Pablo Marez, a student at a lycée, the French equivalent of high school.
"Life is much harder, the rent increases and everything else makes it impossible for us," said Behrann Emonide, another lycée student.
While French television debates whether the country is entering a pre-revolutionary state, students continue to denounce conditions in their schools.
"Overcrowding in classes, rats in classes. walls in classes just don't stand up anymore. The heating doesn't work. During summer, it was way too hot," said Jenna, a lycee student.
"Education should be a right, not a privilege," said Ella Bertelli, a university student.
With presidential elections months away, it remains unclear whether any candidate has put forward real solutions.
"The elections? I don't see any candidate capable of fixing France. But I don't think the extremes are the answer, neither the extreme parties on the right or the left. People are getting more and more angry. We saw it on Saturday, October 17, and unfortunately this Saturday may be even worse," said Jerome Borgeot, a social mediator in Marseille.
French authorities will deploy some 70,000 police nationwide this weekend to prevent a repeat of the chaos and destruction. Meanwhile, business owners in central Marseille are boarding up their shops, taking no chances in case the protests spiral out of control again.
French protesters demand educational equity, purchasing power
French protesters demand educational equity, purchasing power
