By Sudouest.fr with AFP
For the third week in a row, protesters hostile to sanitary measures marched to express their discontent
In Pau, Périgueux, Aix-en-Provence, Paris or Lannion, a single watchword among the demonstrators: “Freedom! Freedom ! For the third week in a row, tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered across the country against the health measures as announced by Emmanuel Macron on July 12. Gatherings took place in more than 150 cities in France on July 31. They were 161,000 demonstrators throughout France on July 24 and 114,000 on July 17, including more than a thousand in Bordeaux.
Already thousands of demonstrators in Nouvelle-Aquitaine
While many demonstrations were to start in the afternoon, some took place at the end of the morning. This was the case for example in Pau, where nearly 3,400 people marched, according to the authorities. The march stopped for a moment in front of several symbolic places such as the town hall, the court and the prefecture.
The same is true in Dordogne, where some 1,300 people marched: 900 people in Périgueux and 400 in Bergerac respectively. The processions met and gathered in front of the Dordogne prefecture. A little more than a thousand people demonstrated in Agen against the sanitary measures. Less than in Bordeaux, the heavy rain did not discourage the demonstrators present this Saturday. They were 5,500 according to the prefecture.
In Saint-Jean de Luz took place the first demonstration in the city itself since the beginning of the protest movement. This parade brought together, for its first, several hundred people. In Bayonne, on the other hand, they were more than 3,000 on July 31. At this time of year, normally, the city is in turmoil because of the Fêtes de Bayonne. Further south, in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), around a hundred opponents gathered at the covered market. Gatherings should take place every week at the market according to the organizers.
Finally, in the Landes, several hundred people, including 60 in Dax and around 100 in Mont-de-Marsan, demonstrated with flags, pans and signs calling for a “boycott of the sanitary pass”.
Other processions all over France
In the capital, several thousand people and two processions set off.
At least 38,000 people demonstrated on Saturday in the south-east of France. In Montpellier, the demonstration brought together 10,000 people, according to the latest report from the prefecture, almost double last week (5,500).
The record was reached in the Var where the rally in Toulon drained 13,000 people, according to the prefecture.
In Nice, the mobilization – 6,500 people according to the police – was also a little more provided than the previous week when 6,000 protesters had marched.
In Marseille, some 4,800 people (4,300 last weekend) gathered.
