Tens of thousands of people took part in protests in central Paris and Rome on Saturday organized by hard-left parties against government economic reform plans and austerity measures, reports Reuters.
In Paris, protestors marched from the Place de la Republique, some carrying banners attacking President Francois Hollande with slogans such as "Hollande, that's enough" and "When you are leftist you support employees."
French police said that about 25,000 joined the protest, which came after new Prime Minister Manuel Valls unveiled planned tax and spending cuts on Tuesday, vowing to bring down France's public deficit and following on the heels of pro-business reforms announced earlier this year by Hollande.
"This is the first demonstration of the left-wing opposition against the government," Olivier Besancenot, spokesman of the New Anti-Capitalism Party told i<Tele TV channel.
The turnout, however, was well short of demonstrations in Paris last year against same-sex marriage that drew hundreds of thousands. The French Communist Party, on its Twitter account, estimated Saturday's turnout at 100,000.
Read more of this report from Reuters.