French police have arrested 66 individuals during a new protest by farmers near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, where they blocked the Champs-Élysées with tractors and bundles of straw, as reported by the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia.
The militant rural coordination union, which promoted the protests on social media, deployed eight tractors to the foot of the Arc de Triomphe, according to the police directorate, clarifying that they arrested 66 participants in this action, which briefly paralyzed traffic on this major artery west of the capital.
Farmers across various European countries have been protesting for weeks against what they see as overly strict environmental regulations, declining income, and competition from cheaper imports from outside the European Union.
The union organized the protest as part of the Paris Agricultural Fair celebrations, where French President Emmanuel Macron needed protection last weekend from a crowd of angry demonstrators.
Although the government avoided deploying security forces to defuse the agricultural protests that rocked France in January, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin warned afterward that if they entered Paris, they would be dealt with.
The government promised reforms in this sector, but farmers continued to block roads, set fire to tires, and besiege major stores in less intense measures.
