By Thomas Black and Eric Sabo 

MONTERREY, Mexico (Bloomberg): Guadeloupe airport crews worked to bring airline traffic back to normal Tuesday after four weeks of protests over rising prices turned violent in the French Caribbean island territory.

Flights were canceled in Guadeloupe late Monday as protesters threw debris on the runway, said airport manager Alan Bieve.

“We have some difficulties with trees and tires in the way,” Bieve said in a telephone interview from Point-a-Pitre. The airport, which handles about 10 international and 50 local flights a day, should be back to normal later today, Bieve said.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has scheduled a meeting with lawmakers and leaders of local governments of the country’s overseas territories in Paris on Feb. 19 amid concerns that the protests may spill over to other regions.

“This can no longer continue,” said Laurent Darcon, a clerk at La Toubana, one of the few hotels open on the island. “It is difficult. They are blocking roads. There have been clashes with police.” La Toubana, which has 32 bungalows, is filled with tourists seeking rooms as hotels closed, he said.

Police detained about 50 people in Guadeloupe when demonstrators threw rocks as officers tried to dismantle a barrier, the Associated Press reported Monday. In the neighboring island of Martinique, about 10,000 people marched in protest, the news agency reported.

Guadeloupe, with a population of about 453,000 people, depends on tourism for its economy, with most visitors from the US and an increasing number of cruise ships coming to the island. Schools and businesses have been closed for weeks as workers stage protests to demand higher wages, Darcon said.

Protests in Guadeloupe have escalated since workers began strikes on Jan. 20, AP reported. About 10,000 potential visitors have canceled trips to the two territories because of the demonstrations, it said, citing tourism agencies in France.

France began sending riot police to the neighboring island of Martinique on Feb. 12 as strikes spread from Guadeloupe. Martinique, which also depends on tourism, has a population of about 343,000 people.

France’s four area territories, including Reunion and Guiana, have the highest unemployment rate among European Union nations, according to the EU’s statistics agency. Guadeloupe has the highest jobless rate for ages 15 to 24, with 55.7 percent unemployed, Eurostat said on its Web site.

On February 11, Yves Jego, the minister in charge of overseas territories, said the government has earmarked close to 190 million euros ($240 million) for increased food, housing, and unemployment allowances in Guadeloupe.

The French government may create an index tracking prices of main consumer goods in Guadeloupe and Martinique and set up a hotline to handle complaints about “abnormal” prices.