The demonstrations followed a week of unrest that had seen widespread looting and destruction. Authorities said they had so far managed to prevent a repeat of the extensive violence witnessed during the previous weekend, although confrontations between protesters and police continued in several locations.
The protests also produced scenes described as among the worst conditions witnessed in France so far. According to the Interior Ministry, more than 400,000 people took to the streets on Saturday, while trade unions estimated the turnout at around 800,000.
Authorities imposed restrictions in several cities and deployed approximately 70,000 police officers to prevent demonstrations over inflation and poor school conditions from escalating into further disorder. During earlier protests, police officers had been outnumbered, hundreds of shops had been looted and several buildings had been set on fire.
Earlier in the week, French President Emmanuel Macron had ordered that only demonstrations organised by recognised trade unions would be permitted.
In Paris, clashes erupted between protesters and riot police at the end of a peaceful march from Porte d'Italie towards Porte de Vincennes on Saturday.
The police operation also involved a specialist unit normally assigned to organised crime and counterterrorism operations. Some protesters were seen erecting makeshift barricades and throwing stones at officers, while police used batons against groups of masked youths who were smashing the windows of car dealerships.
According to the AFP news agency, French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said several thousand radical activists had gathered towards the back of the march, including around 500 individuals identified as rioters.
In the southern port city of Marseille, rubbish bins were set on fire and metal sheets were used to block roads. A police vehicle was seen driving through a burning barricade in France's second-largest city.
In Bordeaux, another southern city, some protesters dressed in dark clothing and wearing face coverings were seen pulling wooden planks from a building and carrying them into the street to construct barricades. A shop was also vandalised in the city.
In Lyon, police fired tear gas to disperse a crowd that had reportedly gathered in an area declared off-limits by local authorities.
A protester in Lyon, France's third-largest city, described the police response, saying, "There were about 150 of us, mostly secondary school and university students. Then tear gas shells were fired almost immediately. You couldn't see anything on the street."
Nuñez said approximately 1,000 people had been arrested and that the figure could rise further.
The minister also reported that two people had been seriously injured, one in the southwestern city of Toulouse and the other in Clermont-Ferrand in central France.
In Paris, a young woman participating in a peaceful protest told the BBC that people had taken to the streets because they were "really disappointed" and had "suffered a lot" since Macron came to power.
The 26-year-old, who identified herself as Zélie, said, "They silence us. They take our money, impose heavy taxes on us, and we cannot say anything. Today, we are in the streets because too much time has passed and too much has happened."
Two masked teenagers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also said their generation felt frustrated and neglected by the government.
One of them referred to the unrest of the previous Saturday, saying, "I don't think looting is a good thing at all. But it is because of poverty and police violence."
The protester added that the demonstrations would end only "when our demands are answered. We really want change in France."
Meanwhile, around 13,000 people took part in a rally against the far-right National Rally party in Orléans, a city in north-central France. The demonstration passed peacefully.
The issues driving protests in France also resonated in several other European cities on Saturday. In Tirana, the capital of Albania, riot police fired tear gas to disperse thousands of anti-government protesters. Clashes were also reported in Brussels, the capital of Belgium.
The latest demonstrations followed protests held the previous weekend against rising fuel prices and inflation, which attracted approximately 550,000 people.
Anger had intensified after weeks of student protests. The unrest that followed resulted in more than 2,500 arrests.
Although the demonstrations initially remained largely peaceful, they later descended into violence, looting and vandalism. More than 2,000 shops and other businesses across France were directly affected. The French Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CCI) estimated the damage at "hundreds of millions of euros".
According to AFP, a protester lost a hand after being struck by a grenade used by police to control crowds, while approximately 1,000 police officers were injured.
French authorities subsequently said they had been forced to impose overnight curfews in Paris and other cities.
The protests are taking place six months before France's presidential election. Candidates seeking the presidency have blamed Macron and his ministers for the situation, adding a political dimension to the unrest as demonstrations over economic pressures, public services and policing continue to challenge the government.
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