Anger over labour reforms has spawned a protest movement dubbed "Up All Night" that is taking over French city squares, with young people gathering until dawn demanding social change. Spreading from Paris to the western cities of Nantes and Rennes as well as Toulouse in the south-west, the protesters have been occupying central squares overnight until police disperse them at daybreak.
In Paris, hundreds of people have been gathering every night since March 31 at the vast Place de la Republique. The labour reforms - which have sparked angry protests across France - are a unifying theme of the gatherings, but the movement embraces a range of anti-establishment grievances. An organiser said the aim was to "build a strong social movement that brings together all those in precarious situations against the oligarchy", describing the goal as "very ambitious".
Students have been at the forefront of weeks of sometimes violent protests over the Socialist government's labour reforms, which will make it easier for struggling companies to fire people. The reforms, which have already been diluted once in a bid to placate critics, are considered unlikely to achieve their stated goal of reining in unemployment, which stands at 25 percent among young people.
The "Nuit Debout" (Up All Night) movement has even spread across the border to Belgium, where a couple of hundred people turned out onto the streets of Brussels for the first protest there on Wednesday night. Up All Night protesters say they are drawing inspiration from the Spanish protesters known as the Indignados, who gave rise to the far-left Podemos party. Tens of thousands of Indignados occupied Madrid's Puerta del Sol square in 2011, furious over growing inequality, spending cuts and corruption.
Podemos MEP Miguel Urban Crespo was among around 1,000 people who turned out for Tuesday night's protest in Paris. "One has to understand that if we don't do politics ourselves, (politicians) will do it for us, against our interests," Urban Crespo told AFP. On Wednesday, French government spokesman Stephane Le Foll played down the importance of the protest movement while saying it deserved "respect".
"There's no need for concern," he told reporters. "I don't dispute the fact that... people need to ask questions and that should be respected." But he said that the protesters "cannot think they have a monopoly on the truth." Le Foll admitted there was a parallel with the Indignados, but stressed the "contingencies of reality", pointing to the Venezuelan revolution "shattered by falling oil prices" and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's humiliating concessions to international creditors.
Hundreds of young people in Nantes and Rennes began their protests Tuesday after clashing with riot police during protests against the labour law last week. "I'm not a member of a union or a political party," one woman said as she joined the demo in Nantes. "We are not in control of our future, we have no way of acting on the issues that concern us." The movement kicked off Tuesday as well in Toulouse, gathering some 300 people vowing to "bring struggles together".
"No one knows what this will lead to (but) don't forget what was achieved" in Spain by the Indignados, said Hegoa Garay, a worker's rights activist. "The labour law was a catalyst," said a 21-year-old philosophy student who gave his name as Loick. "I think it was a big mistake by the government, but we thank them," he smiled. Fresh daytime protests against the labour law are planned across France for Saturday.