Hundreds of thousands of people marched in cities across France on Saturday, October 24, in largely peaceful protests driven by demands for more teachers and repairs to dilapidated school buildings. The demonstrations also voiced widespread discontent over the high cost of living and the government’s policing strategies, as President Emmanuel Macron navigates a social and political crisis in his final months in office.
Government estimates placed the nationwide participation at a minimum of 400,000 people, while trade unions claimed the number was double that figure. In Paris alone, an estimated 110,000 individuals marched along the city’s eastern edge. Protesters in the capital supported high schoolers' demands but also raised concerns about the cost of living and what they described as heavy government policing, noting that riot police had been deployed against school protesters over the past month instead of offering political solutions.
The atmosphere in Paris on Saturday afternoon was largely peaceful and lighthearted, featuring brass bands and the presence of children and grandchildren. Some participants carried banners critical of government policing, with slogans such as “Oppression breeds rebellion” and “The right to protest.”
However, the end of the Paris demonstration at Porte de Vincennes saw a shift in mood. Groups of masked men dressed in black, who did not appear to have been part of the peaceful march, emerged and began throwing glass bottles and stones at police. Officers responded with teargas, water cannon, and stun grenades. A bin was set alight, and fireworks were launched towards the police.
Similar clashes unfolded in other French cities. Police fired teargas to prevent protesters from reaching city centers in Lyon, Lille, Montpellier, Nantes, and Toulouse. In Marseille, some bin fires were lit amidst confrontations with law enforcement.
The Interior Ministry reported nearly 1,000 arrests across the country during Saturday’s protests. More than 70,000 police officers were deployed on the streets, leading to shops being boarded up and many museums closing. The government had expressed fears of a repeat of the previous Saturday, which saw some of the most violent unrest in years, with public buildings burned, hundreds of shops destroyed and looted, and at least 2,700 arrests nationwide, despite peaceful protests also taking place.
Widespread anger was directed at President Macron for banning non-union demonstrations deemed “illegitimate” by his government and for restricting all protesters from accessing city centers. Nadège, a 43-year-old communications worker participating in the Paris march, recounted being teargassed at a peaceful demonstration the previous weekend. “I’m out again peacefully today to support everyone who is brave enough to demonstrate. It does take courage. People are afraid now. We have to keep our rights alive … In France, it’s our legal right to protest in the street and I’m here to defend that,” she stated.
A 21-year-old student from a Paris science faculty, currently blockaded by demonstrators, articulated a growing sentiment: “We feel in France that we are increasingly living in an authoritarian regime that is trying to stop our democratic right to protest in the street.”
The government has faced a crisis since mid-September when high school students, aged 15 to 18, began protesting staff shortages, leaking and crumbling buildings, and a lack of chairs in overcrowded classrooms. This movement has since grown into the largest youth movement in years, attracting support from trade unions, teachers, and parents. Police investigations are ongoing following reports of children and protesters being maimed and injured by explosive police weaponry.
Among the demonstrators on Saturday were some individuals in yellow vests, reminiscent of the gilets jaunes anti-government protests of 2018 and 2019. Jérôme Rodrigues, a prominent figure from the gilets jaunes movement, commented, “Today the government is afraid; that is why they are pushing demonstrators to the edge of the city, away from places of power. It’s not police shields that will provide an answer to French people struggling and unable to make ends meet.” He predicted that demonstrations would likely continue every weekend.
Jesse, a 40-year-old charity worker from northern Paris, carrying a “Free Hugs” sign, expressed her frustration: “I’m so angry. I’m here to support schoolchildren’s demands for better conditions. I’m so proud of them and we have to stand together.” She added, “I know I’m not going to war by coming out to demonstrate peacefully. But at times it really does feel like a war … This is the first time I’ve prepared so carefully for a peaceful march, wearing old clothes in case they are gassed or torn.”
In Orléans, thousands also marched, shouting anti-fascist slogans against a congress held by Marine Le Pen’s far-right anti-immigration National Rally party. Protesters criticized both Le Pen, a frontrunner in next year’s presidential election, and Macron, who is set to step down next year, with the crowd chanting, “Macron, resign. Le Pen in prison.”
