Protesters across France obstructed highways, burned barricades and clashed with police on Wednesday in a show of anger against President Emmanuel Macron, the political elite and planned spending cuts.

Authorities deployed more than 80,000 security personnel across the country, removing barriers and containing unrest as tensions flared in several places.

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, 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 percent ceiling, and a debt pile equivalent to 114 percent of GDP.

Over 170,000 people joined protests across France on September 10 against the government's draft 2026 budget, the Interior Ministry said, while unions claimed 250,000. Police arrested 473 people nationwide, including 203 in Paris, with 13 officers injured.

The demonstrations disrupted rail services, shut about 100 high schools, and forced closures at major museums. The Louvre Museum restricted access, while the Orsay Museum closed entirely.

The movement reflects anger with what protesters say is a dysfunctional ruling elite bent on austerity – the discontent deepened after the last government proposed cuts of $52 billion in government spending.

Outside the Gare du Nord train station in Paris, hundreds of youths chanted anti-Macron slogans. One carried a placard with the Tricolor flag and the slogan "The rich elite's Republic".

"We've come to make some noise," said Sorbonne student Emma Meguerditchian, 17. "We want them to know we can't take this any more, we want another type of government."

Anger over budget cuts

In the west, protesters in Nantes blocked a highway with burning tires and bins. Police used teargas to disperse people trying to occupy a roundabout. In Rennes, a bus was torched.

In Montpellier, in the south, police fired teargas at protesters who had set up a barricade to block traffic at a roundabout. A large banner at the site read: "Macron resign."

Paris police fired teargas at youths blocking the entrance to a high school and firefighters removed burnt bicycles and trash cans from numerous barricades. Scuffles broke out on the fringes of an otherwise peaceful protest near the Chatelet shopping mall in the center of the capital.

The 'Block Everything' movement has drawn comparisons with the 'Yellow Vest' rebellion that erupted in 2018-2019 over taxes and the cost of living and forced Macron to make policy concessions costing billions of euros.

However, sociologist Antoine Bristielle at the Jean Jaures Foundation think tank noted a generational divide between the two.

"In the 'Yellow Vest' movement, we had a rather vulnerable France that was struggling to make ends meet, a lot of workers, a lot of retirees. Whereas here, in terms of age, it's many young people," Bristielle said.

They have "a certain vision of the world where there is more social justice, less inequality and a political system that functions differently, better."

(With input from agencies)