Looters smashed store windows and stole goods indiscriminately, while the 143-year-old Limoges City Hall building was burned down. Looting and arson continued across cities in France on Saturday and yesterday, Sunday (October 18).

Protesters set shared bicycles on fire to build barricades and distributed looted goods from stores as if showing them off.

Joining student protests demanding improvements to poor educational conditions, rallies protesting high inflation and worsening fiscal conditions were held in major French cities over the past two days.

On Saturday alone, an estimated 550,000 people according to police and 800,000 people according to organizers participated in the demonstrations.

Fierce clashes broke out everywhere, and 2,400 people were arrested on the spot over the two days.

French authorities stated that about 1,000 people, including police officers and firefighters, were injured, with some sustaining serious injuries.

[Francoise Pori / French Citizen: No more. Not anymore. I don't want a country like this. Now, the country I live in feels unfamiliar to me.]

It is estimated that about 1,500 shops have been looted, but the exact scale of the damage has not even been figured out yet.

While some cleanup work is underway in the wrecked stores, heavily damaged locations remain abandoned as they are.

[Farida / French Citizen: If all protests end with store windows broken and shops ruined, that cannot happen. This situation cannot continue. Absolutely not.]

During an emergency national address yesterday, President Emmanuel Macron stated that he would formulate compensation plans for affected merchants and engage in dialogue with protest participants, but vowed a stern response to illegal acts such as looting.

[Sa Gongsang-geun / Anchor: By the way, why are these protests spreading like this?]

[Kwon Young-in / Correspondent: To put it in one word, accumulated grievances have finally exploded. What triggered this situation was the student protests that started three weeks ago. When I covered the student protests at the time, the poor educational conditions exceeded imagination. There were countless students standing during classes because of a lack of desks and chairs, and taking college entrance exams without even being able to take classes for certain subjects due to a shortage of teachers. Student protests demanding improvements to this spread to one-third of schools nationwide, and with sympathetic teachers, parents, and major labor organizations joining in, large-scale weekend rallies took place. With school conditions like this, it is only natural that other livelihood sectors would not be fine either. Diesel prices here in Paris have surged by over 50% this year alone, exceeding 3 euros per liter, which is over 4,500 won in our money. The costs of living necessities and monthly rent have also risen significantly, and the accumulated discontent of people suffering from economic hardship seems to have exploded at the large-scale weekend rallies.

[Sa Gongsang-geun / Anchor: However, with President Macron's term coming to an end soon, can his government handle this situation?]

[Kwon Young-in / Correspondent: To start with the conclusion, it is difficult. Upgrading school facilities is an urgent priority, but the budget prepared by the French government is only one-tenth of the required budget estimated by educational organizations. With severe financial difficulties, there is no extra money to spend; France's national debt is approaching 6,000 trillion won. It accounts for as much as 120% of GDP, and annual interest payments alone exceed about 100 trillion won. 10-year government bond yields are nearing 5%, the highest among major EU nations, leaving a shortage of capacity to print more money. Considering the aging population and low growth rates, measures to reduce fiscal spending, such as pension reforms, had been needed for a long time, but President Macron's reform attempts over the past nine years mostly failed, triggering ruling party defeats in general elections. France's presidential election is in April next year. President Macron's approval rating at the end of his term has plummeted to 15%, plunging him into a lame-duck period. However, the anger of the citizens is not just a problem unique to France. It is spreading across Europe to countries like Spain, Italy, and Belgium, creating an atmosphere where European society is suffering from massive turmoil and transformation.]

Reported by Kwon Young-in | Produced by Bae Jun-hwi | Video by Kim Si-nae | Video Editing by Lee Seung-jin | Produced by SBS Digital News