Hundreds of thousands of people marched across France on Saturday, October 31, in a third weekend of nationwide protests over the cost of living, education and policing, as Halloween demonstrations that were largely peaceful turned violent in Paris and other cities later in the day. Student unions used the marches to announce a new escalation: blockades of high schools and universities starting on Tuesday, followed by another blockade on Thursday and a joint demonstration on November 5.
The day was held under an exceptionally heavy security operation. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez deployed around 70,000 police officers and gendarmes across the country, after warning of a very high risk of disorder. Authorities had prepared for trouble on a scale comparable to unrest two weeks earlier, when shops were looted and public buildings were set alight in several cities.
What happened in Paris
In Paris, thousands of demonstrators walked through the east of the city in bright sunshine, many in Halloween costume, while a helicopter circled overhead. Placards carried slogans about the cost of living and about the right to protest, and the early part of the march passed without major incident.
Trouble broke out as the procession reached its final destination. Police said a hard core of several hundred people at the rear of the march attacked officers with projectiles, including a Molotov cocktail. Dozens of masked people dressed in black used hammers to prise up paving stones and throw them at police, and at least one incendiary device was thrown at security forces, according to police accounts reported by the agencies. Police responded with tear gas and several baton charges as they moved to restore order.
The Paris march had not taken the route through the centre of the capital that some protesters wanted. The police prefecture authorised a march on the outskirts of the city, through a working-class residential district, and the Council of State later allowed the demonstration to proceed along a route from Bagnolet to Charenton. Student protesters complained about the decision not to authorise a central march, and that complaint fed directly into their call for blockades next week.
Hard-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon joined the Paris march. He accused the government of taking an increasingly authoritarian turn, and said protesters would show a firm, calm and disciplined determination to defend fundamental rights.
Some shopkeepers in eastern Paris barricaded their businesses before the march. A cafe employee who covered a storefront with plywood panels said he expected no customers while the protest passed, a small sign of how the repeated Saturday demonstrations are weighing on local traders.
Where else trouble flared
The protests were nationwide, with around 350 events planned across France, and smaller rallies reported in Marseille, Toulouse, Lyon and Nantes, among other cities.
In Lyon, France’s third-largest city, people threw projectiles at police, prompting officers to fire tear gas, according to a journalist at the scene. In Toulouse, police used water cannon against an unauthorised protest that drew several thousand people, most of them young demonstrators. Earlier in Toulouse, thousands of young people had gathered for an unauthorised march, some in costume and carrying French flags, clapping and singing.
In Marseille, several hundred people gathered in the city centre in a carnival-like atmosphere, chanting anti-fascist and anti-government slogans, some dressed as clowns and pirates. In Nantes, a demonstrator summed up the marchers’ message as opposition to the cost of living and to the far right, and support for high school students’ demands and for giving citizens a voice.
Police made 27 arrests by 2 p.m. on Saturday, according to early figures, compared with 217 arrests at the same stage a week earlier. That early comparison does not capture the full day, and later reports focused on the evening clashes rather than a final arrest total.
How big were the protests?
Turnout figures differed sharply depending on who counted and when, and readers should treat the competing numbers as a range rather than a single settled total.
Authorities later said some 320,000 people rallied across France, including 70,000 in Paris. Youth organisations put the nationwide total at nearly half a million, including 200,000 in Paris. An earlier, partial figure reported during the afternoon put the nationwide turnout far lower, which reflects how counts build through the day as marches in different cities are added together.
The gap between official and organiser counts is normal for large French demonstrations, and it does not change the basic picture: this was a large nationwide mobilisation, smaller in its early count than the unrest two weeks earlier in terms of arrests, but still big enough to fill streets in Paris and in regional cities on the same day.
Why people are protesting
The movement brings together Yellow Vest activists, trade unions, and high school and university students. It began with anger over the rising cost of living, inequality and deteriorating learning conditions, including dilapidated schools, crowded classes and a university admissions system many students see as unfair.
After a security crackdown and serious injuries to some protesters in earlier demonstrations, the demands broadened to include greater protection of civil liberties and the right to protest itself. That shift helps explain why Saturday’s marches combined economic slogans with slogans about policing and democratic voice.
The political backdrop is tense. Presidential elections are less than six months away, and far-right leader Marine Le Pen is leading opinion polls. With the eurozone’s second-largest economy on the brink of recession and under pressure to rein in its debt, the government has limited room to calm the protests through extra spending, even as ministers promise education reform and help with fuel costs.
Similar youth-led demonstrations have been seen across Europe in recent weeks, with thousands of young Germans also taking to the streets on Saturday. The French protests are therefore part of a wider European pattern of student-led action, not an isolated national event.
What happens next: the blockade calendar
The most concrete outcome of Saturday was not the clashes but the calendar announced by student unions for the coming week.
Student protesters vowed to stage new blockades of high schools and universities starting on Tuesday. They plan to blockade again on Thursday, and then join a demonstration on November 5 called by workers and trade unions. Sabrina Kharbach, spokesperson for the Union Etudiante, said students hoped to turn out in greater numbers to show their demands are legitimate.
Manon Moret, secretary-general of the National Union of French Students (UNEF), said the government has yet to provide a concrete response to young people’s demands. That absence of a concrete response is, in the unions’ account, the reason the blockades are being renewed rather than called off.
Authorities, for their part, remain concerned about attempts to block the Paris ring road or to target government buildings, and about social media calls for Halloween-evening gatherings urging a revolution. The next test will therefore come on Tuesday, when the first blockades are due, and again on Thursday and November 5, when students and workers are set to act together.
Timeline
- Late September 2026: Protests gather pace as the minority government opens 2027 budget talks; students, unions and Yellow Vest activists mobilise over living costs and education.
- Two weeks before October 31: Riots and looting catch security forces off guard in several cities, with shops and public buildings damaged; images of the unrest are broadcast around the world.
- Week of October 27: Interior Minister Laurent Nunez warns of a very high risk of disorder on Saturday and announces a 70,000-strong deployment.
- Saturday, October 31, morning and afternoon: Around 350 events are planned across France; thousands march in eastern Paris in Halloween costume; 27 arrests are recorded by 2 p.m., against 217 a week earlier.
- Saturday, October 31, later in the day: Clashes break out at the end of the Paris march; tear gas is fired in Lyon and water cannon is used in Toulouse; authorities later put nationwide turnout at 320,000.
- Tuesday (next week): Student unions plan to blockade high schools and universities.
- Thursday (next week): A second round of student blockades is planned.
- November 5: Students plan to join a demonstration called by workers and trade unions.
Why it matters
Saturday matters for three reasons. First, it shows the protest movement has not faded after two weekends of action, even under a 70,000-strong security operation. Second, the move from street marches to school and university blockades shifts the disruption from Saturdays into the working week, which will test both the government and public patience. Third, with elections less than six months away, every large mobilisation becomes a measure of the government’s standing, and the competing turnout claims show how contested that measure has become.
None of that guarantees the blockades will succeed or that the government will change course. But the calendar announced on Saturday gives the story a clear next chapter, and the coming week will show whether the student unions can turn a large Halloween march into sustained pressure.
Frequently asked questions
How many people protested in France on October 31?
Authorities said about 320,000 people rallied across France, including 70,000 in Paris. Youth organisations put the totals higher, at nearly 500,000 nationwide and 200,000 in Paris. The figures should be read as a range from competing counts.
Where did clashes break out?
Clashes were reported at the end of the Paris march, where police used tear gas and baton charges. Tear gas was also fired in Lyon after projectiles were thrown at police, and water cannon was used against an unauthorised protest in Toulouse.
Why were 70,000 police deployed?
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez deployed around 70,000 police and gendarmes nationwide after warning of a very high risk of disorder, and after unrest two weeks earlier in which shops were looted and public buildings were set alight.
What are the planned student blockades?
Student unions plan to blockade high schools and universities starting on Tuesday, blockade again on Thursday, and then join a workers’ demonstration on November 5.
Is this the same protest as the earlier France protests in October?
No. This article covers the distinct October 31 Halloween mobilisation, its clashes and its blockade announcement. It follows the France protests earlier in October, but it is a separate day of action with its own turnout, security operation and next steps.
What do the protesters want?
The movement combines demands over the cost of living, inequality and education conditions with, more recently, demands for greater protection of civil liberties and the right to protest.
Related coverage
This Halloween mobilisation follows the France protests earlier in October, and it sits alongside a wider European protest wave that has also produced protests in Rome and protests in Tirana. Read more in our World section.