Since the weekend, French farmers have been blocking major routes in the country, causing huge disruption on motorways, city ringroads and ports. 

The protests have also been increasing in intensity – and the largest farming union the FNSEA says it hopes to have actions in 85 of France’s 96 mainland départements by Friday.

On Friday the union began blockading major routes into Paris, upping the pressure on the government to respond to their demands on pay, tax and regulations.

Facing his first major crisis, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal was expected to offer concessions on Friday as ministers scramble to keep discontent from spreading months ahead of European Parliament elections.

The government would present “an array of responses” to farmers’ grievances, Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau said.

Attal was expected to speak at around 4:30 pm (1530 GMT), the FNSEA farmers’ union gave itself until 8:00 pm to respond after consulting with its members.

READ ALSO Why are French farmers so angry?

Here’s what we know about actions on Friday, January 26th.

The below information is based on pre-announced demonstrations and may change throughout the day. If you have a journey planned, listen to local radio stations or follow your local préfecture on social media for the latest updates.

Paris

The FNSEA and Jeune Agriculteurs unions on Thursday called for the “launch of the Paris blockade” – there are also several convoys of tractors which are making their way, slowly, towards the capital and expect to be there by Friday or Saturday.

Action in Paris is far from certain, however, with the president of Jeunes Agriculteurs Arnaud Gaillot saying that “everything is on the table”, but blockading Paris must be a last resort.

The actions may also depend on what measures Attal announces on Friday. 

Unions in the greater Paris Île-de-France region have asked their members to gather “on the main roads around the capital” from 2 pm. The A1, A15, A 13, A10, A11 and A6 motorways are affected, according to Actu.fr, but the precise points of blockage are not yet known.

On Wednesday a single tractor made it on to the Champs-Elysées before being escorted out of the city by police.

A1, A13, A15, A10, A11 and A 6

Farmers say that they intend to blockade all of these roads in the Île-de-France region (greater Paris) from 2pm on Friday, although have not given precise details on where the blockades will be.

A10

The A10 Chamant péage, about 40km from Paris is blocked on Friday morning.

Rungis

The vast food market on the outskirts of Paris, source of most of the city’s fresh produce, could also be blockaded – although at present only one union, the smaller but radical Coordination Rurale, has spoken of this and said only that the market is “in our minds”.

A16

The A16 in northern France, which provides access to Calais, is blocked at several points. Farmers demonstrating there say that their plan is to drive very slowly towards Paris (at around 20km/h) and eventually bring their protest to the capital. They expect to arrive by either Friday evening or Saturday morning.

There have also been several blockades on access points close to Paris Beauvais airport, which may continue into Friday.

N3

The N3 at Meaux is blocked on Friday morning

N118

The N118 in the direction of Paris is blocked by tractors on Friday morning, traffic is flowing in the other direction. The blockade is close to Osay.

Fontainebleau

Around 80 tractors are gathered at the obélisque roundabout in Fontainebleau, drivers are advised to avoid the area

Agen

So far, the southern town of Agen has seen some of the most tense protests, with riot police called out after farmers dumped waste and burned tyres outside the préfecture in the centre of town. It is expected that protests will continue on Friday. 

Préfecture d'Agen prise pour cible: Le responsable de la Coordination Rurale du Lot-et-Garonne appelle à viser les "administrations" et les "banques" pic.twitter.com/niLDvPYBlq

— BFMTV (@BFMTV) January 24, 2024

A64 Toulouse-Bayonne

The A64 between Toulouse and Bayonne has now been blocked for eight days and protesters say they have no intention of moving.

Bordeaux 

Farmers also protested at the préfecture in Bordeaux on Thursday, dumping trailer-loads of waste and setting fires to bales of hay. Actions in the area look set to continue. 

Hérault/Montpellier

A blockade has been announced at the péage Saint-Jean-de-Védas on the A9 in Hérault on Friday morning. Farmers also say they plan to demonstrate at the préfecture in Montpellier.

Local authorities say traffic on the A9 and the town centre is expected to be very disrupted.

Grenoble

City centre routes have been blocked by tractors on Thursday and tyres set on fire, the action is expected to continue on Friday. 

Normandy 

There are plans to blockade oil refineries in Normandy on Friday, although full details have not been provided. The hardline CGT union has announced that its members will join the farmers in their protests. A previous protest by CGT members blockading oil refineries led to severe shortages at petrol stations around France.

It is not, however, certain that the blockades will go ahead at this stage.

Repeated actions

Below is a list of places that have seen blockades on Thursday – it is likely that many of the actions will continue into Friday, farming unions hope to keep up the pressure at existing blockades and add new ones as the week goes on.

A1 

Blockade on A1 at Seclin, south of Lille

A26

Blockage of the A26 in the Pas-de-Calais département at the Setques exit on Wednesday

A2

Blockade of the A2 at Valenciennes

A25

Blockade of the area near Dunkirk and Lille

Saône-et-Loire

Three ‘opérations escargots’ (rolling roadblocks) from the towns of Autun (along the D680), Moroges (along the E62), and Perrecy-les-Forges (along the E62)

A72

Blockade of the A72 motorway at La Fouillouse junction

RN88

Protest along the RN88 near Le Puy-en-Velay

A43

Blockades at the Chignin toll along the A43 in the Savoie, plus demonstrations in Grenoble in front of the Direction départementale des territoires (DDT). 

Nantes

Moving roadblocks converging on the préfecture in Nantes

A64

Roadblocks near the Hastingues and Peyrehorade exits along the A64 in Landes

A65

Also in south-west France near the Landes area, a blockade at the roundabout of Caloy, east of Mont-de-Marsan

Bordeaux

Along the Bordeaux ringroad, blockades at exits 26 and 27.

A54 

Disruption near exits 12 and 13 at Le Merle on Thursday, in Bouches-du-Rhône (the département home to Marseille).

A51

Motorway blocked in three areas: near Manosque, Sisteron nord, at at two tolls in Alpes-de-Haute Provence fr

A7

The Jeunes Agriculteurs union in Vaucluse announced plans for rolling roadblocks from the ‘Orange-centre’ junction going toward Mornas.

A36

Rolling roadblocks along the A36 in both directions, from exit 5 to exit 3. Disruption was expected at Vaux-les-Prés and Hautechaux-Baume.

A12

In the Yvelines department, a rolling blockade near Rocquencourt, with tractors travelling at an average speed of 13km/h.

A81

The A81 disrupted amid three separate protests (both rolling blockades and blockades) in the Mayenne département.