Europe | High visibility

France’s gilets jaunes protesters are hurting President Macron

Struggling workers are angry at a fuel-tax hike

The start of something big?
|EVREUX

“WE’RE NOT blocking the traffic, just filtering it,” declares Loup, a 64-year-old former education assistant, who has a hand in each pocket and a silver ring in each ear. In his high-visibility jacket, from which the gilets jaunes (“yellow vests”) movement gets its name, he and a dozen others are manning a protest at a roundabout outside Evreux, in rural southern Normandy. On the muddy ground, a fire of wooden crates is blazing, and bags of croissants are piled up on a camping table. Protesters have blocked off one lane of the road, yet passing motorists hoot their horns not in anger but in support.

This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “High visibility”

Chip wars: China, America and silicon supremacy

From the December 1st 2018 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from Europe

The Russian Army Attacked Kherson With Guided Bombs

Russian pilots appear to be hunting Ukrainian civilians

Residents of Kherson are dodging murderous drones

The “Trumpnado”, a wave shaped like Donald Trump's profile, crushing a boat with a European flag.

Can the good ship Europe weather the Trumpnado?

Tossed by political storms, the continent must dodge a new threat


Demonstrators march, shouting slogans against tourists in Barcelona

Spain’s proposed house tax on foreigners will not fix its shortage

Pedro Sánchez will need the opposition’s help to increase supply


A French-sponsored Ukrainian army brigade has been badly botched

The scandal reveals serious weaknesses in Ukraine’s military command

A TV dramatisation of Mussolini’s life inflames Italy

With Giorgia Meloni in power, the fascist past is more relevant than ever

France’s new prime minister is trying to court the left

François Bayrou gambles with Emmanuel Macron’s economic legacy