French gendarmes hold their shields as they stand behind burning trash bins, during a demonstration to block the agro-industrial terminal of the Port de la Pallice, as part of the "Stop Mega-Bassines" days of protest against agro-industry water mega-basins, in La Rochelle, France, July 20, 2024. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
LA ROCHELLE, France (Reuters) - A police officer and five protesters were injured on Saturday when violence erupted during a demonstration in the French grains port of La Rochelle over the use of reservoirs to supply large-scale agriculture, local officials said.
Police fired teargas and brought in water cannon trucks and reinforcements to disperse the roughly 4,000 demonstrators after the unrest broke out in the early afternoon, with several shop fronts smashed and at least seven people arrested.
"A number of radical, extreme left wing participants have attacked property and rampaged a supermarket," said Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin on X. "It is hard to see a link to defence of the environment."
Droughts in France have heightened tensions over water resources, and critics say building large reservoirs to feed agricultural irrigation is a wasteful practice that favours large farms.
On Saturday, the protesters gathered in front of a site belonging to Soufflet Negoce, a grains trading business owned by French cooperative group InVivo, before setting off on their march through the city.
In March last year, similar violence broke out during another protest over agricultural reservoirs in Sainte-Soline in western France.
Saturday's unrest come as the country has its security alert at its highest level ahead of the Olympic Games, which kick off with an opening ceremony on the River Seine on July 26.
(Reporting by Marco Trujillo and Elizabeth Pineau; Writing by Mimosa Spencer; Editing by Helen Popper)
