Protesters across France obstructed highways, burned barricades and clashed sporadically with police on Wednesday in a show of anger against President Emmanuel Macron, the political elite and planned spending cuts,
Reuters reports.
Authorities deployed more than 80,000 security personnel across the country, removing barriers and containing unrest as tensions flared in several places.
In Paris, riot police periodically used teargas to disperse crowds. Almost 200 people were detained in the capital.
The "Block Everything" movement - a broad expression of discontent that has spread on social media - sprang up online in May among right-wing groups but has since been co-opted by the left and far-left.
The unrest added to the political turmoil on a day when conservative Sebastien Lecornu took office as President Emmanuel Macron's new prime minister, after his predecessor was ousted by parliament over his unpopular plans for sharp budget cuts.
"It's the same shit, it's the same, it's Macron who's the problem, not the ministers," said Fred, a CGT union official at the Paris public transport company RATP. "He has to go."
France is under pressure to lower a budget deficit that stands at nearly double the European Union's 3% ceiling, and a debt pile equivalent to 114% of GDP.
