French police arrested 254 people during clashes in Paris and other cities on the first anniversary of the "yellow vest" movement, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said Sunday.
The violence in Paris, where police battled rioters for hours around the southeastern Place d'Italie square, was the worst in the French capital in months.
A total of 173 people were arrested in the city, Castaner told Europe 1 radio, revising upwards Saturday's count of 147.
Dozens more were arrested in smaller protests in cities including Nantes, Montpellier, Strasbourg, Bordeaux and Toulouse.
Further protests are planned Sunday.
Castaner claimed that there were "few demonstrators" among at the protesters Saturday in Paris, who he said were mainly "thugs, brutes who came to fight the security forces and prevent the emergency services from doing their work."