Protests, marches and demonstrations are a commonplace event in France, and it’s not unusual for a small minority of demonstrators to commit crimes such as vandalism – smashing up bus shelters and setting fire to street furniture – at the end of a demo.

But for all that French protests are noisy and attention-seeking, serious violence is relatively unusual, and when it does happen it usually takes place in cities.

But a demo in the rural Deux-Sèvres département in south west France over the weekend took an unusually violent turn, with 61 police officers injured, according to the Interior Ministry, around 20 of whom were “very seriously” injured.

On Monday there were further clashes as demonstrators defied a massive police presence at the site in Sainte-Soline.

So what’s it all about and why has it become such a big issue?

The issue

The protest on Sunday was called against the installation of an agricultural irrigation project in the commune of Sainte-Soline in the Deux-Sèvres département in south west France.

The ‘méga-bassines‘ are a planned network of 16 giant (around 600,000 cubic metres) underwater storage areas which farmers can use for irrigation in the event of a drought – something that is happening with increasing frequency as the planet warms.

The project, backed by around 400 local farmers, is controversial because environmentalists say the mega-basins damage valuable wetland areas – the west of France has several wetland areas that shelter a wide variety of wildlife and the area is also known for salt marshes that produce a highly prized fleur de sel.

The protesters also say that the water tanks drain water from natural groundwater supplies and therefore make droughts worse for local residents and smaller farmers – essentially they see the basins as a ‘water theft’ from locals by big agri-businesses. 

As the climate crisis intensifies and droughts become commonplace, violent clashes over water supplies are likely to become more frequent.

The protest

Local authorities refused to licence a demonstration against the basins on Sunday, but several thousand people turned out anyway – including local activists and Green politicians such as Paris MP Sandrine Rousseau and ex-presidential candidate Yannick Jadot.

According to Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, about 40 of the people present at the demo were on a police watchlist because of a history of violent protest (more on that later).

In total there were between 4,000 and 7,000 demonstrators (estimates according to police and the demo organisers) and 1,500 police.

Events quickly turned violent with demonstrators hurling rocks, pétanque balls and Molotov cocktails at police, who responded with tear gas.

Organisers say 30 demonstrators were injured, 10 of whom required hospital treatment, while the Interior Ministry said 61 police officers were injured, around 20 of whom required hospital treatment.

What next?

On Monday there were further clashes as protesters tried to set up a protest camp at the site, coming up against the huge police presence – around 1,000 officers – still in the area.

The government is determined to stop the installation of a ZAD (Zone à défendre) – a type of permanent protest camp.

However one farmer has allowed protesters to set up camp on his land, where watchtowers and fences were being built on Monday to create a “village of Gauls”, a reference to the popular Asterix comic books.

“We fully intend to use them, it will be a base for all types of harassment operations we’re going to carry out if the construction continues,” said Julien Le Guet, a spokesman for the protest collective.

Masked protesters also tore out a water pipe thought to be used to fill one of the basins, with video of the vandalism circulating widely on news reports and social media.

What does the government say?

Gérald Darmanin, France’s hardline Interior Minister, has gone on the attack, describing the protests as “écoterrorisme” and saying that at least 40 of the activists at the site are ‘Fiché S‘ – the technical term for being on a police watchlist – due to what he described as ‘ultra-left’ activities.

“With their operating methods, I am not afraid to say, falling under the banner of eco-terrorism that we must absolutely fight” he declared.

The big fear in government is the creation of another Notre-Dame des Landes site – a camp built to protest against the expansion of Nantes airport back in 2012, which remained in place for six years and was frequently the site of violent clashes between police, local authorities and activists from around the world who came to join the camp.

It was eventually dismantled in 2018 after Emmanuel Macron ruled against the expansion of the airport, overturning decisions made under the Hollande and Sarkozy governments. 

Darmanin said that 1,000 police would remain on site so that “no ZAD is installed in the Deux-Sevres department nor
anywhere else in France”.

The activists appear equally resolute in their intention to set up a new ZAD.