Turnout at France’s third consecutive Saturday of protests over living costs and education has fallen, with 779 people arrested across the country on October 31, according to the Interior Ministry.
The ministry counted 291 marches and rallies that drew 320,000 people, 70,000 of them in Paris, and said officers carried out 40,000 checks. Organising unions put the nationwide figure at close to 500,000.
On October 17, when rioting and looting swept several French cities, the ministry had counted 550,000 demonstrators. A week later the figure stood at 410,000.
Arrests also fell, from 2,628 on October 17 and 1,314 on October 24, according to AP. The ministry said 159 police officers and gendarmes were injured on October 31, while 515 fires were put out and 36 shops damaged, dpa reported.
The Paris prosecutor’s office opened an investigation yesterday for attempted homicide against persons holding public authority after a Molotov cocktail struck a gendarme at the end of the Paris march. The attack took place at Porte de Charenton, in the 12th arrondissement, where explosive objects were thrown at about 15 gendarmes and several police officers, prosecutors said.
The gendarme was slightly injured, his protective equipment having shielded him from the flames. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez had already described the attack as attempted murder on the evening of October 31.
Ahead of the protests, Nuñez warned of a very high risk of disorder and of separate calls to gather from radical left-wing groups and radicalised protesters. About 70,000 police and gendarmes were deployed nationwide.
High school pupils, who launched the movement in September over overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and decaying buildings, marched again despite fresh concessions on university admissions.
Ministers have announced the gradual replacement of Parcoursup, the national university admissions platform, by 2028, along with additional places in higher education. Pupils’ and students’ unions dismissed the measures as insufficient and are demanding the platform’s outright abolition.
The yellow vests (gilets jaunes), whose movement first emerged in 2018 over fuel taxes, marched alongside trade unions against the high cost of living and alleged police violence. They also rallied support for a nationwide strike called by the main unions for November 5.
Pupils have called for school blockades to resume as classes restart today after the autumn break. A fourth Saturday of protests is planned for November 7.
The unrest comes as France prepares its 2027 budget under the European Union’s excessive deficit procedure, which leaves the government little room for spending concessions. Youth-led protests inspired by the French movement were also held in Germany and Portugal on October 31.
