French police arrested nearly 300 people on Wednesday as “Block Everything” demonstrations spread across the country, paralyzing traffic, sparking fires, and triggering violent clashes with authorities.

The nationwide protests erupted in response to President Emmanuel Macron’s policies and deep spending cuts, coming just days after Prime Minister François Bayrou was ousted in a parliamentary confidence vote and replaced by Sébastien Lecornu.

Protesters accused the government of forcing working-class citizens, students, and retirees to shoulder the burden of France’s massive debt crisis instead of taxing the wealthy.

In Paris, demonstrators repeatedly blocked the beltway during rush hour, set trash piles ablaze, and clashed with police, while firefighters battled a restaurant fire that threatened nearby buildings, Fox News has reported.

Unrest spread to cities across France, with a bus torched in Rennes, widespread road blockades, and heightened police presence, as 80,000 officers were deployed nationwide to manage a protest movement fueled by anger at austerity plans worth $51 billion.