Paris (AFP)

Several tens of thousands of people demonstrated on Saturday across France to challenge the vaccination, denounce the "dictatorship" or criticize the health pass, President Macron and the anti-Covid measures he recently announced being the target of the protest .

In total, the Ministry of the Interior identified 136 rallies which involved 114,000 people: 18,000 in Paris divided into several processions and 96,000 in the rest of the country.

"Freedom", "Macron dictator" ... From north to south of the country, the slogans were similar.

In Paris, the main demonstration made up of about 10,000 people started from the Palais-Royal, in the center of the capital, before crossing the Seine with cries of "Liberty", "No to the sanitary dictatorship" or "Macron" resignation".

At the head of the procession, where the French flags flourished, were Florian Philippot, the ex-number 2 of the National Front (far-right party now the National Rally) and the ex-muse of the "yellow vests" (the movement of social protest born in France at the end of 2018) Jacline Mouraud.

"I was born in Portugal under the dictatorship of Salazar, I don't want us to relive it," said Fernanda, 53, support of Florian Philippot.

Some leaflets diverting the yellow star with the mention "sanitary pass" were also visible.

At the same time, around 1,500 people demonstrated in the streets of the south of the capital, in a disparate procession, preceded by a police cordon.

"We are not anti-vaccines at all. We just want everyone to have the freedom to be vaccinated or not. PCR tests may be enough and then we must leave them free", launched Aurélie and Tiphaine, in their thirties, both employed in a shopping center in the Paris region.

- Race against time -

President Emmanuel Macron announced on Monday a series of measures to strongly encourage the French to be vaccinated, in particular the generalization of the health pass and an obligation of vaccination for caregivers, in order to try to stop the progression of the Delta variant.

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These measures are approved by a large majority of French people, according to a poll published on Tuesday.

The Head of State wants to "place the restrictions on the unvaccinated rather than on all", the health pass to verify that a person is vaccinated or not contaminated at the entrance of various public places such as cafes, restaurants, shopping centers in particular.

These new measures will arrive on Monday in the Council of Ministers before a parliamentary course in the form of a race against time in the face of the progression of the Delta variant.

The objective is a final adoption of the text by the end of the week.

In Nice (South), they were about 1,600 to demonstrate, according to the authorities, and in the Old Port of Marseille about 4,250, pointing to "the sheep" which are being vaccinated, the "bad information" delivered according to them to the television.

"We have doubts about vaccines against Covid-19, it is not that we think the Earth is flat but we do not know the long-term effects of these hastily cobbled together vaccines that Macron wants to impose on us ", summarized Rita, nursing assistant of 39 years, crossed in the procession of Montpellier (South).

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In the western half, the mobilization seemed a little less.

In Bordeaux, the prefecture, which had taken a ban on demonstrating in the city center, counted 1,200 people and they were 2,500 in Toulouse.

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