Riots in France erupted on Friday as President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, faced criticism after being pictured dancing at a Celine Dion concert earlier in the evening.
The couple were seen clapping along from a private box as protests over living costs, public finances and inequality spread across the country. Critics compared them to Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, the royal couple executed during the French Revolution.
An estimated 550,000 people took part in demonstrations, with barricades and public buildings set alight, cars overturned and clashes reported between protesters and police in cities nationwide.
By 6pm, more than 400 people had been arrested, including almost 200 in Paris. Tear gas, dispersal grenades and water cannon were used as officers confronted demonstrators.
In Lyon, protesters set fire to the historic tourist office, an incident described as a “tragedy” by the city’s mayor. Hooded youths nearby threw rocks and fireworks at police.
In Marseille, people broke into the town hall and vandalised a statue of Marianne, the personification of the French Republic. One demonstrator was heard shouting: “We’re taking the Bastille.”
Paris saw scuffles and road blockages around Gare du Nord, the Eurostar terminus. At the Place de la République, clouds of tear gas filled the area as youths in black balaclavas threw fireworks and fought with riot police.
Buildings and other property were also damaged in Lille, Grenoble, Pau, Montpellier, Toulouse and Valence. The town hall in Limoges was engulfed in flames, while some protesters carried baguettes in an apparent reference to the role of bread shortages in past revolutions.
The protests began last month over the condition of schools in poor Paris suburbs but have since developed into nationwide demonstrations over inequality. School and university students have been joined by Gilet Jaunes, or yellow vest protesters, whose movement brought widespread disruption at the beginning of Mr Macron’s presidency.
“Macron and Brigitte are acting like Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette [who were executed in the 1789 revolution]. They appear to think that there is no problem with anything,” said Lina Bernard, an organiser of a protest rally in northern Paris.
Clashes were also reported in Brussels on Saturday, where a car was overturned.
Mr Macron has blamed France Unbowed and other left-wing groups for inflaming the unrest, an accusation they deny. He is due to stand down in May after completing the maximum two terms permitted for a French president.
