PARIS, France: Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets across France on October 24 to protest against rising living costs and inequality, while a massive security operation helped prevent a repeat of the widespread violence seen the previous weekend.

Police said around 110,000 people marched peacefully through Paris, waving flags and voicing anger over economic conditions. However, clashes broke out in several cities, including Lyon, Bordeaux, Grenoble and Marseille.

During the Paris march, demonstrators chanted, "Down with the state, the police and the fascists."

At the end of the march, police fired tear gas and used water cannons to disperse small groups of hooded youths. The violence was much less severe than on October 17, when looters and vandals caused widespread damage in the capital.

In Marseille, France's second-largest city, youths dragged large metal sheets into a street to block traffic, set fire to rubbish bins and threw rocks and bottles at riot police. Clashes continued into the evening.

Police also fired tear gas at demonstrators in Clermont-Ferrand, Lille and Nice.

The Interior Ministry estimated that 410,000 people took part in protests nationwide, while trade unions claimed the turnout was twice as high.

Authorities deployed 70,000 police officers and gendarmes, 10,000 more than the previous weekend, after admitting that they had underestimated the scale of the earlier unrest.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said security forces needed to respond quickly to any threat. He accused far-left activists and criminal gangs of trying to encourage violence.

By early afternoon, police had arrested 135 people nationwide. Nunez said many arrests followed searches carried out before the demonstrations, during which officers found fireworks, ball bearings and other items that could be used as weapons.

Much of central Paris resembled a city under lockdown. Shopkeepers boarded up their businesses, museums closed, and more than 20 metro stations were shut.

Business groups urged retailers to stay closed after thousands of shops and businesses across France were damaged or looted the previous weekend.

Oskar, manager of a Kiton boutique in Paris, said there was little reason to open because customer numbers were so low.

Several major cultural attractions, including the Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay and the Paris Opera, also closed as a precaution, disappointing tourists.

Protests Spread Across Europe

The unrest began last month with small student demonstrations in Paris's suburbs over school conditions. It later developed into a wider protest against France's economic situation and government policies, inspiring demonstrations in neighboring countries.

In Brussels, Belgian police used tear gas and pepper spray during clashes with anti-government demonstrators. Protests also took place in Italian cities for a second consecutive weekend.

Left-wing leaders in France criticized the government's decision to restrict the number of authorized marches in several cities. They also objected to a last-minute decision to move the Paris demonstration to the capital's southeastern outskirts.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of the hard-left France Unbowed party, joined the Paris rally and praised the demonstrators for what he described as a large display of discipline and restraint.

He predicted that the protests would continue until President Emmanuel Macron addressed the country's growing social and economic problems.

Macron's presidential term ends next year. France remains one of the world's wealthiest countries, but its rising public debt has increasingly worried investors.

Mélenchon warned that the demonstrations could become a weekly event unless the government changed course. He argued that Macron still had time to respond to public anger before facing stronger pressure to leave office.

Many demonstrators accused the government of responding too harshly to the unrest. Soldiers were deployed to patrol the Champs-Élysées, the famous Paris boulevard lined with luxury shops and restaurants.

The first authorized march passed peacefully in Orléans, about 120 kilometers south of Paris. Demonstrators there protested against Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally party, which was holding its congress in the city.