Third weekend of protests in France as youth-led rallies sweep Europe

Hundreds of thousands of mostly young protesters have taken to the streets across France in a third consecutive weekend of demonstrations over living costs and education.

About 70,000 police and gendarmes were deployed across the country, and Paris marches were rerouted to the edge of the capital. Youth-led demonstrations were also reported in Germany and Italy.

France’s government estimated that 320,000 people protested nationwide on Saturday, fewer than in previous protests but still a significant turnout.

Mass protests on October 17 that deteriorated into some of France’s worst rioting in years drew more than 500,000 people around France, and demonstrations on October 24 drew 410,000, according to government estimates. Organisers’ turnout estimates are much higher.

Authorities in France reported about 300 arrests nationwide so far on Saturday, down from 800 at the same time last week.

Interior minister Laurent Nunez warned of a “very high risk” of disorder, especially after dark on Halloween. Police arrested thousands of people after riots and looting that marred largely peaceful protest marches the previous two Saturdays.

At Porte de Bagnolet, on the eastern edge of Paris, thousands gathered behind a line of students who led the march hand in hand. Security agents from the CGT, one of France’s largest unions, kept watch at the front of the gathering, while police were massed on side streets.

The Interior Ministry told reporters that of the 320,000 people protesting on Saturday, 70,000 are estimated to have turned out for the main protest in Paris, which police moved outside the city centre to reduce the risk of unrest around government buildings and tourist sites after a last-minute court battle.

The marchers’ grievances are diverse. Each group carried its own banner: high school students, climate activists and people angry about the cost of living.

The rallies started last month as a movement of high school students protesting over neglected buildings, teacher shortages and a university admissions system seen as unfair to disadvantaged students. Unions and others angry at President Emmanuel Macron joined in with a variety of demands.

While the vast majority of protesters have been peaceful, groups of troublemakers routinely target police with fireworks and projectiles. Some protests have degenerated into rioting and looting — including unrest on October 17 that appeared to take the government by surprise.

Police have responded with tear gas, dispersion grenades, water cannons and other tactics that have resulted in severe injuries.

Mr Macron said Saturday’s marches would be kept out of city centres to protect shops. Police also barred people from entering Place de la Republique and Les Halles from 11pm to 6am on Saturday and Sunday.

Unaccompanied minors face a separate 9pm curfew around the Champs-Elysees. A Paris court on Wednesday suspended an earlier curfew on minors as a serious and illegal infringement of freedom of movement.

In Germany, a youth initiative called Gen Z regelt — roughly “Gen Z’s got this” — rallied in many cities “for education, health, climate protection and an affordable life”, and against any return of military conscription.

Organisers said tens of thousands participated in the protests across the country, but official figures were not immediately available.

Young protesters also gathered at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate on Saturday afternoon, demanding more investment in education and housing.

Later on Saturday, police ended a protest march early in Cologne after protesters used pyrotechnics, threw stones at them and covered their faces despite a ban. Police also used water cannons to disperse demonstrators.

In Hamburg, some protesters also shot pyrotechnics towards police and burned down barricades. Police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the crowds.

In Frankfurt, protesters pelted police with stones, injuring several officers, one of them severely, authorities said.

Elsewhere in Europe, people also protested against the housing crisis and for a better future.

Thousands of protesters, including families with small children, converged in central Lisbon to peacefully protest over Portugal’s housing crisis, holding up placards reading “Houses or Fire” and “We are not Afraid”.

In The Hague, Netherlands, there was a strong police presence in and around the central shopping area on Saturday afternoon after online appeals for protests, and fears of rioting and looting.

There was little sign of protests and no major disturbances by mid-afternoon. Police frisked some groups of black-clad youngsters, and checked their identities, local media reported.

Many stores in the city were boarded up as a precaution.

In Spain, police in Barcelona planned to activate their highest-level alert after an anonymous TikTok network called Blocus urged new gatherings. Rioting there on October 24 led to about 130 arrests, mostly of minors.

Italian police were on alert after clashes in Milan, Turin and Bologna, and calls to protest circulated on TikTok in Belgium, Austria, Switzerland and Portugal.