Agencies | Paris:
Thousands of people took to the streets of Paris on Saturday as a fresh wave of demonstrations swept across France over deteriorating school conditions, the rising cost of living and wider discontent with President Emmanuel Macron’s government.
The march in the French capital began at Porte d’Italie and was scheduled to conclude at Porte de Vincennes along the Boulevards des Maréchaux. Authorities permitted the demonstration on the southeastern edge of the city after banning the originally negotiated central route between Place de la Bastille and Place de la Nation.
The decision to restrict the march to the outskirts of Paris, along with a ban on other demonstrations organised outside union structures, sparked criticism from protesters, who accused the government of trying to limit the movement’s visibility.
“This is a tactic by the government to try to run the movement out of steam—to try to discourage it,” said Emma, a protester and podcaster who declined to give her surname.
Monica, a retired public education worker, said changing the route at short notice created the impression that authorities wanted to make the movement less visible.
The demonstration brought together students, teachers, environmental activists, nurses and trade union representatives. Participants marched and danced while chanting slogans against inequality, the far right and Macron’s presidency. Some called for the President’s resignation, while others voiced support for wider political change.
The demonstrations prompted a major security operation, with authorities deploying more than 70,000 police officers and gendarmes across France to prevent a repeat of the violence that marred protests the previous weekend.
Police said at least 135 people had been arrested nationwide by early Saturday afternoon and that various weapons had been seized. Authorities described the situation at that stage as calm.
On October 17, demonstrations that had largely begun peacefully were followed by widespread looting, vandalism and clashes. Thousands of businesses were reportedly damaged or ransacked, while official figures indicated that more than 2,000 people had been taken into police custody.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said the number of officers deployed would be 20 per cent higher than during the previous weekend. The operation also involved RAID, an elite police unit generally assigned to counterterrorism and other high-risk interventions. Nunez said its personnel would support police operations but would not be directly involved in crowd control.
In central Paris, several businesses remained closed, shop windows were protected with panels and some retailers hired private security. At least 24 metro stations were closed at the request of the police prefecture. Major cultural institutions, including the Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay, also shut for the day, while Art Basel Paris cancelled its weekend programme.
Demonstrations were also reported in several other French cities, although authorities imposed restrictions in a number of urban centres.
In Montpellier, Rouen and Nice, protests were prohibited in downtown areas. In Marseille, a trade union-organised march was permitted under strict conditions.
In Lyon, where demonstrations had been banned in the city centre, police fired tear gas to disperse a group of around 150 protesters.
Meanwhile, thousands gathered in Orléans amid tensions surrounding a congress of Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party, which was using the event to mark the start of its presidential campaign. Protesters chanted anti-fascist slogans against the party.
Authorities expected between 20,000 and 30,000 people to participate in a counter-demonstration, prompting a heightened security presence.
The Yellow Vest movement, whose cost-of-living protests shook France in 2018, has also announced plans for another demonstration on October 31.
The latest protests came a day after Macron met representatives of the student movement for the first time since the agitation began. He promised additional teachers and a major overhaul of Parcoursup, the system used to manage admission to higher education institutions.
However, the meeting failed to ease tensions, with student representatives calling for continued mobilisation until the government announces concrete measures.
The movement began in mid-September, when high school students blocked access to their schools to protest what they described as deteriorating educational conditions, including ageing and poorly maintained buildings, teacher shortages and an unfair system for university admissions.
The agitation has since broadened into a wider expression of discontent over living costs, economic inequality and Macron’s leadership.
On October 17, more than half a million people reportedly took to the streets following calls from student organisations and groups associated with the Yellow Vest movement.
The unrest has added to France’s political uncertainty ahead of the next presidential election, expected in 2027. Macron, who is constitutionally barred from seeking a third consecutive term, is due to leave office at the end of his current mandate.
The violence and public anger have also renewed attention on the far right, with National Rally leader Marine Le Pen campaigning on a platform that emphasises law and order. The political climate remains tense as competing groups seek to shape the debate over France’s economic and social direction.
Saturday’s demonstrations highlighted the growing overlap between student grievances, concerns over the cost of living and broader opposition to the government. While authorities sought to prevent further violence through an expanded security deployment, protest organisers indicated that mobilisation would continue unless the government offered concrete responses to their demands.
