French police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse stone-throwing "yellow vest" protesters in Paris Saturday, on the first anniversary of the movement challenging President Emmanuel Macron's policies.

A protester wearing a yellow vest waves the French national flag during a demonstration against rising cost of living blamed on high taxes, on the Champs-Elysees Avenue in Paris. Photo: VCG

Clashes broke out in other French cities as activists rallied to prove their movement is still a force a year after the first giant protest on November 17, 2018, which drew 282,000 people.

Numbers attending the protests and levels of violence have sharply diminished from the height of the movement, which began on the back of frustration Macron was failing to address the needs of ordinary French people.

But Saturday's protests - which demonstrators called "Act 53" of their weekly gatherings - marked the first serious clashes for months in central Paris between security forces and demonstrators.

The interior ministry put the number of demonstrators at 28,600 nationwide but the organisers said nearly 40,000 people had rallied. 

Tensions focused on the Place d'Italie square in southeast Paris. Police in full riot gear flooded the area in tear gas and used water cannons after demonstrators threw stones, set rubbish bins alight, overturned cars and set them ablaze, AFP correspondents said.

A major shopping centre in the area closed its doors after dozens of protesters threw stones at the windows of a neighboring hotel. Several demonstrators and a freelance journalist were injured.

Police arrested 147 people across Paris by 8:00 pm (1900 GMT), of whom 129 were in custody.

Earlier in the afternoon, Paris police chief Didier Lallement had banned the Place d'Italie demonstration, condemning the "damage and the systematic attacks against the security forces and the fire brigade."

"It's pathetic that the demonstration was banned," said Catherine Van Puymbroeck, 49. "The state has provoked this anger."

Police also fired tear gas in the Les Halles area, near the famed Pompidou Centre museum, to break up demonstrations. 

The yellow vests want the actions on Saturday - their usual day of protest - and also Sunday, the anniversary day, to remind Macron they have not vanished from the scene.

"We're here even if Macron doesn't like it," demonstrators chanted as they arrived on the outskirts of Paris Saturday, with others singing "Happy Birthday."

Police were deployed in numbers, especially along the Champs-Elysees, which was again closed off to demonstrators following the ransacking of shops that followed a protest last March.

France has a long tradition of violent protest, but the ferocity of last winter's demonstrations and allegations of police brutality shocked the country.

A poll by the Elabe institute published Wednesday said 55 percent of French people support or have sympathy for the yellow vests, although 63 percent said they do not want the protests to begin in earnest again.


Newspaper headline: French protesters gather for ‘act 53’