“Paris Erupts in Celebrations, Riots After PSG Wins Champions League” (WSJ):
Nationwide, two people died and more than 190 were injured, according to a provisional tally from the French interior ministry. More than 260 cars were burned and more than 500 people were detained.
Sporadic riots aren’t uncommon in France after major sports events, or even on New Year’s Eve. Officials for a time published a yearly tally of how many cars were burned during New Year’s riots, until they decided that the public numbers were encouraging more burnings.
Even in the mostly-peaceful BLM protests here in the U.S. I don’t think that 260 cars were burned (though maybe our tireless investigative journalists couldn’t be troubled to tally up the destruction?). Why are the French so passionate about torching cars?
From the New York Post:
Maybe some Sorotonin could help decipher the reason?
https://www.france24.com/en/20190104-french-literary-rebel-michel-houellebecq-releases-novel-serotonin-yellow-vest-protests
BTW, since you’re a COVID fan, here a description of it by Houellebecq, although something tells me you’ve already seen it:
> He described COVID-19 as a “banal virus” with “no redeeming qualities… It’s not even sexually transmitted.”
https://www.france24.com/en/20200504-world-will-be-same-but-worse-after-banal-virus-says-houellebecq
Look like multicultural riots to me. Is it fair to call them French?
According to Reddit it is a vibrant celebration of regional culture:
“I’ll give you the serious answer you’re looking for. We’re not burning our own cars out of pleasure just because it’s funny to not have cars. It’s migrants from Maghreb and Africa who are burning the car of minimum wages workers because they think it’s funny.
So no, you’ll see people here saying it’s “French tradition” or thinking it’s funny but it’s not. During each Algeria’s victory in football or each celebrations, cities are under siege by the same populations and they destroy everything and burn the cars of the ones who don’t have the means to protect them.
It’s not fun and it’s not French.”
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/rtp8xr/comment/hquv0kl/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Anon, when cultural enrichment is concerned fin takes a backseat. I am so glad that France is now enriched by immigrant culture, even if it is not fun. Good countermeasure to elite culture De Gaul had so worried about. https://www.nytimes.com/1968/01/14/archives/de-gaulle-he-has-some-second-thoughts-on-jews.html
Because: CarBQ
Its not the French burning cars, its the “diversity”? They do it on new year’s eve too, usually about 1,000 cars.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-59847372
LOL – because we don’t do that kind of stuff here in the US… e.g. Detroit Tigers 1984 World Series victory? Maybe we showed the French how to properly celebrate a win!
The French took a different approach to administering their colonies than the English and Spanish empires. French overseas territories are administered as departments of France. Martinique is considered as French as Ile de la Cite in Paris, and the denizens thereof equally French. A curious notion which seems to have, ah…backfired.