A heavier police presence and restrictions on marches helped France avoid a repeat of the previous weekend’s widespread destruction. Hundreds of thousands still demonstrated over living costs and public services. The government has since offered education concessions, but student organisations remain divided and further protests are planned.
Saturday’s demonstrations went ahead despite the bans, revised routes and security preparations reported by EU Perspectives on Friday. Students, unions and Yellow Vest activists took the streets with overlapping demands on education, wages and household bills.
On Monday, the government announced education concessions in an attempt to address some of the protesters’ demands. Still, the wider dispute remains unresolved.
Smaller crowds, less destruction, continued clashes
The Interior Ministry counted 410,000 demonstrators nationwide on Saturday, including 110,000 in Paris. Down from its estimate of 550,000 the previous weekend. The CGT trade union confederation claimed 800,000 participants, matching its earlier estimate.
We will continue to use alternative routes for declared demonstrations to protect our city centres.
— Emmanuel Macron, French President
The destruction was less extensive than on 17 October, when fires, looting and attacks on public buildings prompted tougher policing. Nevertheless, clashes continued in Paris, Marseille and Strasbourg. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez reported 1,435 arrests on Monday. He said 267 police officers and gendarmes were injured and estimated that 150 demonstrators had also been hurt, three of which seriously.
Restrictions also affected peaceful mobilisation. Lyon’s mayor said bans had prevented organised marches and pushed gatherings outside the prohibited area. President Emmanuel Macron defended the restrictions during a visit to Marseille on Monday. “We will continue to use alternative routes for declared demonstrations to protect our city centres,” he said. He acknowledged that authorities had failed to anticipate the scale of the 17 October disorder.
Concessions address only part of the anger
The government has promised to reverse planned cuts to teaching posts, improve school buildings and increase the number of study places and student grants. It has also pledged to overhaul Parcoursup, France’s online higher-education admissions system, which has become a central grievance for protesters.
The commitments followed talks between Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu and student organisations on Monday.
While some school-student representatives welcomed the promises, L’Union Étudiante dismissed them as insufficient. “Zero out of ten for Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, who is offering only crumbs on Parcoursup in response to young people’s historic mobilisation,” the organisation wrote on X. Parcoursup is the online system through which school-leavers apply for higher-education courses.
The demands also concern whether young people can afford to study. Student organisations are seeking higher grants, housing support and affordable meals alongside changes in admissions.
For workers and Yellow Vest activists, meanwhile, purchasing power remains a central issue, with household bills and fuel prices among their main concerns.
Further demonstrations are planned for 31 October, followed by a union-led strike and protest day on 5 November. Monday’s education commitments may satisfy some participants. The government still faces separate demands over pay, energy costs and the funding of public services.
