One police officer was reportedly burned, and five demonstrators were slightly injured.
Police and demonstrators clashed in La Rochelle, a port city in western France, where demonstrations were held against plans to build artificial reservoirs lined with plastic.
About 4,000 protesters took to the streets, but these peaceful marches turned into riots, with shop windows smashed and cars torched.
The police tried to disperse the demonstrators by setting up barricades, using tear gas canisters and canisters.
At least six people were arrested.
Controversial ‘mega basins’
Demonstrators in La Rochelle demonstrated against the project, which envisages the construction of “mega basins”, plastic tanks, which will cover several hectares of land.
After the drought episodes in the summer of 2022 in France, several basins of this type were installed, especially in Sainte Soline, where they were opposed by environmental activists and NGOs.
These huge reserves are capable of holding the equivalent of 300 Olympic swimming pools or about 700,000 m3 of water.
But critics say megabasins are a temporary solution and risk depriving surrounding ecosystems of the water they need to sustain them, as well as slowing soil recovery during the winter.