Paris third-weekend protests: 320,000 march across France as Paris rally rerouted to city edge

France saw a third consecutive weekend of large protests over living costs, school funding and public services on Saturday, October 31. The Interior Ministry estimated about 320,000 participants nationwide, down from 410,000 on October 24 and 550,000 on October 17; about 70,000 marched in Paris. Authorities deployed around 70,000 police and gendarmes across the country and closed more than 40 Paris metro stations to prevent a repeat of the unrest on October 17.

Paris march moved to the city's edge

The main Paris march was rerouted after a last-minute court battle: the Conseil d'État upheld the prefecture's decision to push the demonstration onto a peripheral route along the Boulevards des Maréchaux, from Porte de Bagnolet to Porte de Charenton, overturning a tribunal order that would have allowed a Bastille–Nation route through the city centre. Students led the march hand in hand. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez had warned of a very high risk of disorder, particularly after dark on Halloween.

Most marches proceeded peacefully in daylight, but clashes broke out after dark: confrontations were reported at the end of the Paris march in the 12th arrondissement, as well as in Lyon, Marseille, Rennes and Toulouse. Police fired tear gas in Paris and Lyon, fires burned in the streets of Marseille, and arrests rose from about 300 during the day to more than 560 by Saturday night, according to the Associated Press. Unaccompanied minors faced a separate nighttime curfew around the Champs-Élysées.

What the protests are about, and what comes next

The movement combines anger over household costs with complaints about schools and access to higher education, led largely by young people, and has spread to Germany and Italy. The Paris prosecutor has opened an inquiry and assigned the IGPN police inspectorate to investigate video-shown police violence against a 17-year-old from the October 17 protests, while organizers and unions plan further actions in early November.