France is imposing curfews to contain unrest after shops were vandalised and government buildings burned over the weekend.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said the restrictions would be partial and localised, and were aimed at protecting businesses.
On Sunday evening, President Emmanuel Macron granted special powers to his state representatives across the country, allowing them to ban “certain gatherings when necessary”.
Lecornu said it would be revealed later on Monday which areas were under curfew.
Marseille, one of the cities worst affected by the violence, had already banned all “gatherings and demonstrations” between noon and 8pm on Monday.
Lecornu did not rule out declaring a state of emergency or invoking Article 16 of the French constitution, which grants the president “extraordinary powers”. But he said curfews “seem more appropriate” for now.
There have been calls for greater restrictions. Gabriel Attal, a former prime minister under Macron and a centrist presidential hopeful for next year’s election, said the armed forces should be deployed if necessary.
“If it is necessary to temporarily resort to armed forces, it must be done,” he said on Monday.
Lecornu said intelligence agencies had warned the government that left-wing political groups might seek to disrupt the presidential election next year.
“We have an extreme-left movement that is looking to create disorder, a very deep-seated disorder in the country going right up to the presidential election,” he said. “I think that has been clearly said to us this morning by the intelligence agencies.”
The unrest continued on Sunday night. Macron, who began a tour of the Middle East on Monday, has so far resisted calls for harsher measures, despite the escalating violence.
Leaders of the Yellow Vest movement, one of the groups behind the demonstrations, said they would return to the streets next Saturday for “Act II”.
Interior minister Laurent Nuñez admitted on Monday that police had “lost control” of the riots in several cities after 60,000 police and gendarmes were deployed.
After the unrest on Sunday, he offered Macron his resignation, which the president rejected.
More than 2300 people were arrested on Saturday when protests against the cost of living and poor school conditions descended into violent unrest.
Almost 1000 police officers and gendarmes were injured, and one protester died after suffering cardiac arrest.
Masked protesters started fires, attacked public buildings and looted high-end stores across France.
In the central town of Limoges, a 19th-century city hall was almost destroyed by a blaze that caused its roof to collapse.
In Paris, Lyon and Marseille, the disorder continued into Monday morning, with the Paris Police Prefecture reporting “scattered groups of young opportunistic criminals continuing to attempt to loot stores in the Châtelet/Les Halles area”.
Protesters also shut down the Louvre on Monday, obstructing the entrance to the famous gallery.
“We are proud to announce that we are blocking the largest museum in the world,” a leaflet posted near the museum read.
The blockade of the Louvre’s main pyramid entrance, organised by art students at the post-secondary Ecole du Louvre, angered visitors and ticket holders who had arrived for the 9am opening.
“The tourists waiting in line are being aggressive toward us because they paid for their tickets,” one of the participants told Le Figaro.
Laure Beccuau, Paris’ public prosecutor, said nearly 130 people had been taken into custody in the capital between Sunday night and Monday morning.
The arrests were not solely related to looting but “may be linked to other types of crime”, she told TF1, the French broadcaster.
At least five shops were looted in Paris on Sunday night, including a clothes shop, a department store and two supermarkets.
Near the Boulevard Sébastopol, rioters shouted anti-police slogans and threw bottles at officers.
The entrance to BHV Marais, a department store in the city centre, was broken and ripped open by looters. The window of an optician was smashed as groups of rioters in balaclavas moved through the streets.
A large police presence was deployed near Les Halles shopping centre, where tear gas and stun grenades had been fired.
Video also showed shattered shopfronts and broken glass littering the Place de la République.
Ariel Weil, the mayor of Paris Centre, said: “Damage and fires have resumed in Paris and its centre, particularly around Les Halles.
“Thank you to all the shopkeepers still open for taking all measures to protect themselves, including closing their shops, as the police are extremely busy.”
Benoît Payan, the mayor of Marseille, said looting in the city had “continued last night”, but added that “things have calmed down” on Monday morning.
He told France Inter that he expected explanations for the absence of law enforcement in the city.
In video from Saturday, looters in Marseille could be seen walking out of the Centre Bourse shopping centre – past police officers – carrying several bags from stores such as Lidl, Action, and Fnac.
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