Protesters clashed with police during a protest against a planned motorway in southwestern France that critics reject on environmental grounds, AFP reported, quoted by dariknews.bg.
Several hundred demonstrators, including about 50 masked and dressed in black, joined the clashes, with some throwing stones and gendarmerie responding with tear gas. About a thousand activists gathered at a castle near the construction site of the A69 Toulouse-Castres motorway to express their opposition to the project. The protest took place despite a ban by the local prefecture of Tarn due to “serious clashes“ during previous protests.
The owner of the estate had agreed to the meeting, provided it was peaceful. However, some protesters used logs, branches and wooden pallets to block the main road that runs past the A69 construction site, a route that was already closed to traffic.
Work on the motorway began in 2023 and is due to be completed in the second half of 2026, but opponents still hope to prevent its completion.