Police in Paris used tear gas on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026, as hundreds of thousands of people joined a third consecutive weekend of nationwide demonstrations in France. The interior ministry reported that approximately 320,000 people participated in the marches, while police noted about 70,000 demonstrators in Paris alone. The rallies, which coincided with Halloween, were organized by labor unions and other groups to protest the rising cost of living, police violence, and deteriorating conditions in schools and universities.
The demonstrations followed two previous weekends of unrest characterized by looting, arson, and more than 1,300 arrests on the prior Saturday, Oct. 24. In response to recent violence, French President Emmanuel Macron ordered marches on Saturday to be kept away from central commercial districts. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez deployed roughly 70,000 police officers and gendarmes across the country, citing a "very high risk" of coordinated disorder and warning that Halloween masks would not be accepted as a cover for violence.
While many of Saturday's marches were reported as peaceful, clashes occurred in several cities. In Lyon, police fired tear gas after individuals threw projectiles, and in Toulouse, water cannon were used against an unauthorized protest of several thousand people. In Paris, police made 27 arrests by 2 p.m., a lower figure than the 217 arrests recorded by the same time the previous week. Protesters in Paris marched behind high school students, with some demonstrators wearing Halloween costumes and carrying placards criticizing government policy.
The protests affect a broad segment of the French population, including university and secondary school students and trade union members. For students like 21-year-old Corentin Cabreux, the movement is a response to day-to-day hardships such as squalid state-run housing. For shopkeepers whose businesses were damaged or looted in previous weeks—resulting in hundreds of millions of euros in estimated losses—the unrest has forced changes in operations, with many boarding up storefronts.
Nationwide participation reached 320,000 to 800,000 people on recent Saturdays. This domestic pressure comes as the eurozone’s second-largest economy faces a potential recession and high debt. Residents in major cities have faced impacts including curfews for unaccompanied minors in areas like the Champs-Élysées and restricted access to public squares like Place de la République between 23:00 and 06:00.
Social media networks like "Blocus" and campaigns like "Gen Z regelt" have organized similar events in Germany, Albania, Spain, and Italy. These international knock-on effects indicate a pattern of discontent over food prices and job security across Europe. In France, the political impact is immediate as the country approaches a presidential election in less than six months. With candidates like Marine Le Pen leading polls and Jean-Luc Mélenchon criticizing the government's "authoritarian turn," the protests have become a central issue for the campaign. High school and university students have vowed to stage new blockades of educational institutions starting next week.