AGENCIES / Bayonne (France)
French riot police lobbed tear gas and used water cannons on Saturday to disperse anti-capitalism protesters in Bayonne, near the resort of Biarritz where President Emmanuel Macron and G7 nation allies were meeting for a three-day summit.
A police helicopter circled as dozens of protesters, some hurling stones, shouted slogans and abuse at the lines of police in the Basque town’s historic centre.
The protest march, from the French border town of Hendaye to Irun in Spain, was the climax of an ‘Alternative G7’ summit promoting anti-capitalist values.
The ‘Alternative G7’ and G7-Ez — ‘No to G7’ in Basque — brought together more than a hundred civil society groups, including left-wing political parties, trade unions, feminist groups and groups supporting refugees, and began on Wednesday at the Ficoba trade fair in Irun.
Itziar Fernandez, spokesman for Ongi Etorri Errefuxiatuak (Welcome Refugees in Basque) said: “This counter-summit has been organised because we have no other choice. They are going to address the neoliberal policies we already know, while here, we are open to everyone.