Paris counts cost of riots

PARIS: President Emmanuel Macron was elected on a promise to burnish France´s image on the global stage, but as shops and hotels counted the costs on Monday of rioting over the weekend, many fear they won´t have much to cheer for Christmas.

Violent anti-government protests on Saturday engulfed chic Paris shopping districts, where a police lockdown and vandalism forced many stores to shut. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire met with business representatives on Monday to tally the damage from arson and shattered windows, looted shelves and lost revenue as the scenes of urban unrest stopped locals and tourists alike from venturing out.

"The impact is severe and ongoing," Le Maire said after the meeting. Some retailers had accumulated sales declines of between 20 and 40 percent during the demonstrations, while some restaurants had lost 20 percent to 50 percent of their takings, he said.

Macron himself had already warned last week that "one shouldn´t underestimate the shock to people, in France and abroad, of seeing in the media what looked like war scenes." "Our worst fears were confirmed: this third straight weekend of blockages caused a very significant drop in activity for all businesses," Jacques Creyssel of the FCD retailing federation told AFP on Sunday.