About 320,000 people joined France’s third straight weekend of youth led protests, pressing demands over living costs, education and climate change.
A smaller crowd, with the same pressure behind it
France’s latest youth led protests drew fewer people than the previous two weekends, but 320,000 demonstrators nationwide is still a major turnout. The third consecutive Saturday of marches focused on living costs and education, with youth led rallies also reported in Germany and Italy.
The government’s estimate was down from more than 500,000 protesters on Oct. 17, when demonstrations gave way to some of France’s worst rioting in years, and 410,000 on Oct. 24. Organizers put the crowds higher than official figures. The data doesn’t settle how much support the movement has, but the turnout suggests the grievances haven’t faded.
Authorities prepared for renewed unrest. Some marches over the previous two weekends had been largely peaceful before groups began looting and clashing with police. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez warned of a “very high risk” of disorder, particularly after dark on Halloween. About 70,000 police and gendarmes were deployed across France, and police moved the main Paris march to the edge of the city.
Students at the front
At Porte de Bagnolet, thousands gathered behind students marching hand in hand. Security agents from the CGT, one of France’s largest labour unions, watched the front of the crowd as police gathered on nearby streets. The Interior Ministry estimated that 70,000 people joined the Paris protest, which was redirected away from government buildings and tourist sites after a last minute court battle.
The movement began with high school students objecting to neglected school buildings, teacher shortages and a university admissions system they see as unfair to disadvantaged students. Labour unions and other groups have since joined, bringing demands that include action on the cost of living and climate change. That breadth gives the marches reach, but it also makes their shared political goal harder to pin down.
The crowd itself reflected that variety: students, climate activists and people struggling with living costs carried different banners. Some protesters wore Halloween costumes, including a zombie Michael Jackson from *Thriller*, a pirate and Spider-Man. They chanted and sang through megaphones.
For 21 year old student Corentin Cabreux, the education debate is concrete. He described damp walls, peeling sections, cockroaches and rats in his state run student residence. He hoped the Halloween march would feel festive, helping push back against the association between France’s protests and violence.
[Police clash with protesters in Marseille](https://i.cbc.ca/ais/8f75f46e-328c-4f42-a1de-5587183042bb,1793466954901/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C6452%2C4302%29%3BResize%3D796)
*Police clash with protesters in Marseille, France, on Saturday. About 70,000 police and gendarmes were deployed nationwide. (Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images)*
[Read the analysis: France shaken by fiery street protests uniting students, workers and 'yellow vests'](/news/world/french-student-protest-9.7385328)
Watch: France is broke. Can the protests change anything? The report examines how students’ demands for more funding collide with the country’s precarious debt crisis.
Security measures, and the risk of escalation
Most demonstrators have remained peaceful. But groups of troublemakers have repeatedly targeted police with fireworks and projectiles, while some rallies have turned into rioting and looting. Police have used tear gas, dispersion grenades and water cannons; those tactics have also caused severe injuries.
President Emmanuel Macron said Saturday’s marches should stay out of city centres to protect shops. Police restricted access to Place de la République and Les Halles from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Unaccompanied minors faced a separate 9 p.m. curfew around the Champs-Élysées. A Paris court had suspended an earlier version of that restriction on Wednesday, ruling it a serious and illegal infringement of freedom of movement.
[Protester ignites a firework in Paris](https://i.cbc.ca/ais/fda462f3-ed86-4266-960a-a2ff24a0b852,1793467418162/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C5900%2C3933%29%3BResize%3D796)
*A protester ignites a firework in Paris on Saturday. France’s government estimated 320,000 people protested nationwide. (Pedro Nunes/Reuters)*
Germany’s sign ups outnumber its marchers
In Germany, the youth initiative *Gen Z regelt*—roughly, “Gen Z’s got this” or “Gen Z takes charge”—called for action on education, health, climate protection and the cost of living, and opposed a return to military conscription. Organizers said more than 180,000 people had signed up online. By Saturday afternoon, only several thousand had taken to the streets in cities across the country.
That gap matters: online interest is not the same as street turnout. Still, young people gathered at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate to call for greater investment in education and housing. High school student Lara Breitenbach said young people would live longest with the consequences of current policy, and called for spending on social services, education and climate protection. Berlin student Janelle Schulz described a school with a water damaged, collapsing ceiling, too few teachers and broken toilets.
[Protesters gather at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate](https://i.cbc.ca/ais/5edca9f3-7f0d-453e-85df-9ee1b229f2a4,1793467569394/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C5500%2C3667%29%3BResize%3D796)
*Protesters gather at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate on Saturday. The youth initiative Gen Z regelt rallied in cities across Germany. (Annegret Hilse/Reuters)*
Berlin authorities sent an additional 1,500 police officers to the capital amid concerns about possible riots. Some shops on the Kurfürstendamm boulevard had boarded up their windows, though officials said they knew of no specific threats.
In The Hague, police maintained a strong presence around the downtown shopping district after online calls for protests raised fears of unrest. By midafternoon, there were few signs of demonstrations and no major disturbances. Local media reported that police searched some groups of black clad youths and checked their identities; many shops had also boarded up as a precaution.
[More: What’s behind the youth protests in France?](/radio/frontburner/what-s-behind-the-youth-protests-in-france-9.7390512)
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Protest calls spread beyond France
The unrest was beginning to travel through social networks. In Barcelona, regional police planned to raise the alert to its highest level after an anonymous TikTok network called Blocus urged people to gather. Rioting on Oct. 24 had already led to about 130 arrests, most involving minors.
Italian police were also on alert following clashes in Milan, Turin and Bologna. TikTok calls for protests circulated in Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland and Portugal, though the fragment gives no detail on the scale of those calls or whether they led to demonstrations. The spread of invitations across borders suggests the unrest could draw in new crowds, but online calls alone don’t show how large or sustained that response will be.
