Nearly 1.3 million French people take to the streets in the sixth demonstration against the pension reform

The main unions call a new day of protests for Saturday

MADRID, 7 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The French Ministry of the Interior has confirmed that the sixth demonstration against the pension reform has managed to gather more than 1.28 million people, a record number that, however, is far from 3.5 million. of attendees targeted by unions.

Beyond the national data, the Government has reported that in the capital, Paris, the demonstration has managed to gather 81,000 people, a figure also significantly lower than the more than 700,000 attendees that the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) has counted. , according to BFM TV.

This new day of protests has been marked by complications caused by public transport, as well as by roadblocks in some areas of the country. In fact, the protests have also taken place in the vicinity of the capital's Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, where some 400 people have gathered, although with no intention of blocking access to the aerodrome.

The unions, which had called more than 300 marches, had previously expressed their intention to enter a "new phase" of mobilizations, according to the CGT general secretary, Philippe Martinez. "The responsibility lies solely with the Government," warned Martinez, who in an interview with Franceinfo appealed to take into account the "social movement."

As planned, the day of protests has also reached the educational centers and, according to the majority union of Secondary Education Snes-FSU, has reported that the strike has been supported by 60 percent of the teaching, educational and of orientation.

Former presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, from La Francia Insumisa (LFI), has affirmed that the "direct" person responsible for the current situation is the president, Emmanuel Macron, whom he has asked to take "the democratic initiative". For Mélenchon, who spoke to the press in Marseille, the solution is to withdraw the reform, dissolve the National Assembly or call a referendum.

"We are in an event in the history of our country with a social mobilization like we have not seen in 30 or 40 years (...). This is a great confrontation between an entire people and a single person: the President of the Republic ", Mélenchon has asserted from the concentration in the city of Marseille.

Beyond specific incidents, the day has taken place without major altercations, although the Paris Police Chief has confirmed the arrest of a total of 43 people for "extremely limited skirmishes."

The Ministry of the Interior has mobilized 10,500 police officers and gendarmes -- some 4,200 of them in Paris alone -- in the face of the demonstrations, which are preceded by complications in the train and metro networks.

The government's plan, which is in the middle of the parliamentary process, proposes raising the official retirement age from 62 to 64 years, extending the years of contribution necessary to receive the maximum pension and eliminating the specific regimes that exist today for certain sectors.

The main unions have confirmed a new day of protests for this Saturday, March 11. "The Government must withdraw its project now", they have defended from the inter-union organization of France.