More than 500,000 French people gather in Paris to protest the pension reform

MADRID, 31 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) -

More than half a million Parisians have gathered this Tuesday in the streets of the French capital, according to data from the unions, to protest for the second time in just two weeks against the pension reform promoted by the Government and which includes , among other points, raise the retirement age to 64 years.

According to the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) the call has managed to bring together some 500,000 people in Paris, although it is true that the Police Headquarters of the capital has reduced this figure to 87,000 attendees.

This circumstance also occurs in other cities such as Rennes, Nantes or Bordeaux, where the unions have spoken of an attendance of between 30,000 and 75,000 people in each town, while the authorities have reduced them to just over 28,000.

The main demonstration, the one in Paris, has taken place without major incidents, although it is true that for the moment the arrest of 23 people has been confirmed in incidents related to clashes with the Police, according to BFMTV.

The police authorities have reported certain episodes of tensions with small groups of protesters who, while wearing hoods, have thrown stones and other projectiles at the gendarmes. Police officers, for their part, have responded by firing tear gas.

The demonstration was represented by the parties of the parliamentary left, while the leader of the National Group, the far-right Marine Le Pen, took the opportunity, from the French National Assembly, to attack them and affirm that her formation "is where it should to be as an opposition party".

Thus, Le Pen has criticized the "childish behavior" of the progressive coalition New Popular Ecologist and Social Union (NUPES) not only for going to the demonstration, but also for "presenting thousands of amendments" to the pension reform that did not they do more than lessen the chances of the text being rejected.

The Government has mobilized up to 11,000 gendarmes and police officers -a thousand more than in the first round of strikes on January 19- before the more than 200 rallies called in the main cities of the country.

The unions are charging against a reform that, among other measures, contemplates raising the retirement age to 64 years. The workers' associations consider it unfair, while for the Executive and the president, Emmanuel Macron, they are necessary changes that, in reality, come late within the European framework.

"If the government does not change, there will be consequences," warned the general secretary of the CGT, Philippe Martinez, who has accused the prime minister, Elisabeth Borne, of using a "provocative" tone by ruling out changes in the main axes of the reform.

Martinez has not ruled out a third day of protests, waiting to see how those on Tuesday evolve, with Paris as the main focus. The authorities foresee between 1 and 1.2 million protesters in total, according to a confidential report collected by Franceinfo.