Paris police imposed an overnight curfew on Monday in two areas of the French capital to prevent further violence, after a weekend marred by France's worst rioting in years, which targeted city halls, other public buildings and thousands of businesses nationwide.

The order is intended to safeguard “people and property from the violence and looting,” according to the Paris police statement.

The curfew prohibits anyone from entering or remaining on the Place de la République, where rioting took place on Saturday, as well as in the shopping neighborhood of Les Halles, which has been subject to looting.

The curfew will be enforced from 11 p.m. on Monday until 6 a.m. on Tuesday.

Furthermore, gatherings and demonstrations are prohibited as of 8 p.m., according to the Paris police.

Earlier on Monday, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu had advocated for curfews that would be “very limited” and “localized.”

In northern France, local authorities imposed a curfew on children and teenagers under the age of 18 in several cities, including Lille, beginning Monday and continuing for the following two days from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Nice, on the French Riviera, likewise imposed an overnight curfew for minors from 9 p.m.

Lecornu defended the police's handling of the unrest, stating that “despite scenes of severe violence and extensive property damage, no one was killed, and that is a miracle.”

He stated that the specifics of the curfews would be disclosed later on Monday, following consultations with the mayors.

Mass protests in France are frequently marred by violence on the fringes of otherwise peaceful marches, resulting in clashes with police.

Saturday's unrest evoked memories of the riots that erupted after the fatal police shooting of a teenager in 2023, when the authorities imposed local curfews, as well as the violence witnessed during the yellow vest movement, which began in 2018 over fuel prices and broader economic grievances.

The prime minister’s instructions come after Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez tendered his resignation on Sunday.

However, President Emmanuel Macron declined it “given the need for continued command of law enforcement in the current context,” Macron’s office said in a statement on Monday.

The statement said that he instructed Nuñez "to take all necessary steps to ensure full transparency about the failures in planning and intelligence-gathering that led to the violence."

Macron also called for the implementation of “new policing tactics on the ground as quickly as possible” in order to bring the violence to an end.

On Sunday evening, groups set fire to trash bins, bicycles and other objects in the streets and looted businesses in Paris, Lyon, Marseille and other cities.

This followed the violence that had erupted during nationwide protests on Saturday against rising living costs and poor conditions in schools.

At least 2,400 people were arrested across the country.

Authorities estimated on Monday that no fewer than 3,000 businesses had been damaged or looted across several cities.

In Marseille, the prefect imposed a ban on all protests and other gatherings from noon until 8 p.m. on Monday.

“I submitted my resignation because I bear responsibility for everything that is happening,” Nuñez said on France Inter radio.

“Now the real issue is ensuring that this doesn’t happen again. … We obviously need to be better at anticipating the kind of mobilization that is unfolding.”

Nuñez attributed the violence to “hordes of troublemakers and looters” and “far-left activists,” and stated that police strategy required adaptation “in the face of extremely mobile groups.”

Authorities said that groups of hundreds of people sought confrontations with police and targeted public buildings, including city halls and other public offices.

Nuñez acknowledged that authorities had “lost control” in several major cities on Saturday.

“You cannot look shopkeepers in the eye, when hundreds of businesses have been looted, and then say that we have not lost control in some of these major cities,” Nuñez said.

Flames engulfed the 19th-century City Hall in Limoges, in central France, causing its roof to collapse and all but destroying the building.

On Monday, cleanup crews and firefighters cleared the streets of Paris of shattered glass and other debris.

Ouri Zagoury, who owns a video game shop near Place de la République in Paris, said he closed the store on Saturday afternoon but then saw looters forcing their way in on surveillance cameras.

“There was such a constant influx of people coming and going.

And even though I called the police, they told me not to intervene, saying they would come, but they never did, which is another problem in itself,” Zagoury said.

Jordan Bardella, president of the far-right National Rally party, highlighted the government’s failure to prevent the violence.

“The government has failed, the head of state has failed in his essential duty of protecting the French people,” he told reporters at the party’s headquarters.

“I call on the people of France now, beyond their right to protest, to use their voting power,” Bardella said.

He is campaigning alongside far-right leader Marine Le Pen, whose polling numbers have suggested for months that she is the front-runner in next spring’s presidential election.