Social tension in France spills over into an environmental protest against the construction of macrodams

Two days after the big day of mobilization against French President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform, social tension moved to the rural area this Saturday where ecologists gathered thousands of people in a rally against some macro-accumulations for irrigation.

Among the demonstrators concentrated in municipality of Sainte-Soline, in the west of the countrya thousand thugs infiltrated, some of them from neighboring countries, who attacked the forces of order who came to protect those artificial ponds, according to the Efe agency.

Several gendarmerie vehicles were set on fire with Molotov cocktails started by the radicals, who stood in front of the barricades erected by the agents, trying to disperse them with water cannons and tear gas.

The authorities assure that the violent groups used explosive material, part of which was seized a day earlier during security controls, as well as incendiary material.

confiscated weapons

The prefect of the department, Emmanuelle Dubée, who recalled that the demonstration was not authorized, indicated that mortars and various sharp weapons were also seized, such as axes, machetes and knivesand the pétanque balls they intended to launch were thrown at the policemen.

Some 3200 intervention police They have been deployed in the area to prevent protesters from approaching the reservoirs. More than 6,000 environmental activists, according to government data, 25,000 according to the organizersmost of them peaceful.

Among the slogans that were shouted were many against Macron and his pension reform, which has already sparked nine days of protests in the country, with the tenth scheduled for next Tuesday.

The demonstration was held in an agricultural region where many of these controversial macroaccumulations, which are considered a liability, are concentrated industrialized and non-ecological agriculture.