May 1st in Rennes: in the center, a second younger and more extensive demonstration [En images]

Two for the price of one. After the inter-union demonstration organized on the morning of May 1 in Rennes, in the Cleunay district, a second procession set off from the François-Mitterrand mall around 2:30 p.m. A gathering led by the Solidaires union and several environmentalist (Alternatiba, Les Soulèvements de la terre), feminist (Nous Tous 35), associative (France-Palestine Solidarités) and political (Permanent Revolution and Le Poing Raised) organizations.

According to Solidaires 35, this demonstration in the city center brought together some 4,500 people, compared to 1,500 announced by the police, present throughout the route, in particular to prevent entry into the old center. This is more than the morning procession, made up of 1,400 to 2,500 demonstrators

“Alternative and complementary”

For Gérard Huré, spokesperson for Solidaires 35, this “alternative” demonstration is not opposed to the first. It is rather a “complementary” moment, allowing you to be present in the center of Rennes, where “the places of power are symbolically located”. “This is where we must come and demand better salaries, better working conditions, fight for gender equality at work,” explains the trade unionist, whose organization was present in the first procession, on behalf of “union unity”.

An activist within the environmental association Alternatiba, Oumeima El Isbihani also considers that it was important to be alongside the unions in the morning, while being visible in the afternoon in the city center. On the one hand to carry “loud and clear” a message “of social, climate, fiscal justice and the defense of workers’ rights”. But also “because it’s not the same time, not the same location and not the same audience. So we reach different people“.

No overflow

In fact, the crowd of demonstrators in the afternoon was younger than that in the morning. The procession left the mall then Place de Bretagne to head towards Boulevard de la Liberté and retrace its steps via the quays. It dispersed around 3:30 p.m., but many demonstrators were still there afterwards, under the gaze of the CRS. Others headed towards Place Sainte-Anne.

No major overflow was observed during the stroll. According to the Ille-et-Vilaine prefecture, there were no arrests. Here and there, shops and walls have been tagged, notably by housing activists. The prefecture specifies that a window was “damaged”. Advertising screens and bus shelters were also damaged.