France on fire -protesters rage over pension reform

Protests against Emmanuel Macron's pension reform (which aims to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64) have been increasing in France and escalating into violence. The night of March 23-24 was devastating.

Paris and Lyon are the two cities with the largest protests in the country.

In other cities like Bayonne, however, unrest is making itself felt.

A similar situation existed in Bordeaux, where the town hall and several shops were burned down.

And these protests are leaving behind powerful images, like this one from the Place de la Bastille, which is hard to see because of the tear gas that police fired in an attempt to disperse the crowds.

Even fires in the streets are not uncommon. The protesters take advantage of the accumulation of rubbish to cut off traffic on the streets.

Despite the protests, positions between the unions and the French government still seem to be far apart.

In fact, President Emmanuel Macron insists he will push through raising the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64.

At the moment, more than 300 mass protests have been counted across the country.

While the Home Office put the number of demonstrators at just over a million on the ninth day of protests, unions put the number at 3.5 million.

In Paris, the difference is almost more striking: 119,000 people according to the government and more than 800,000 people according to the unions.

And it seems that the protests are far from abating but are continuing and growing in number.

Student organizations are already reporting that large numbers of students are taking part in the mobilizations.

In addition, there are the many striking industries that threaten to paralyze the economy and an entire country, such as the fuel industry.

The unions are counting on Macron sticking to his idea of implementing the pension reform before the end of the year. They therefore continue with their mobilization.

In fact, the President's name was heard frequently at the demonstrations.

"Macron, keep your hands off my pension" or "I have nothing to lose" are some of the usual slogans at the demonstrations, according to 'Le Monde'.