320,000 march across France in third weekend of youth-led protests
Editorial illustration — Press Pass USAAn estimated 320,000 people marched across France on Saturday, October 31, in a third consecutive weekend of youth-led protests over the cost of living and the state of public education. The day stayed largely peaceful until dusk, when clashes broke out in Paris and several other cities, and French authorities reported more than 560 arrests nationwide.
France's Interior Ministry put nationwide turnout at 320,000, including about 70,000 in Paris, the Associated Press reported. Organizers gave a higher figure, around 500,000, according to Le Monde. Either way, the movement is shrinking on the government's own count: it drew an estimated 410,000 on October 24 and about 550,000 on October 17, when looting and rioting broke out in several cities.
Some 70,000 police officers and gendarmes were deployed across the country after Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez warned of a "very high risk" of disorder, especially after dark on Halloween. In Paris, the main march was routed along boulevards on the city's edge rather than through the center, and for hours it was festive, with techno music and some marchers in Halloween costumes.
As the Paris march ended near Porte de Charenton, groups on its margins threw bottles, fireworks and paving stones at police, who answered with tear gas and stun grenades, the AP reported. Clashes were also reported in Lyon, Toulouse and Marseille. Nuñez denounced what he called an "extraordinary" level of violence and described a petrol bomb attack on a riot officer as "attempted murder."
The movement began last month with high school students protesting neglected school buildings, teacher shortages and a university admissions system they see as unfair to disadvantaged students, the AP reported. Trade unions and former Yellow Vest activists later joined, broadening the demands to the cost of living, housing and public services.
Youth-led rallies spread beyond France on Saturday. In Germany, tens of thousands of young people demonstrated in more than 30 cities at the call of the group "Gen Z regelt" — "Gen Z has got this" — "for education, health, climate protection and an affordable life," the AP reported, with violence and looting reported in some German cities.
The protests are not over. Student groups vowed new blockades of high schools and universities on Tuesday and Thursday, then plan to join a demonstration called by workers and unions on November 5, a student union representative told The Guardian.
Sources: The Associated Press, via PBS News and ABC News (Oct. 31, 2026); Le Monde (Nov. 1, 2026); The Guardian (Oct. 31, 2026); France's Interior Ministry figures as reported Oct. 31–Nov. 1, 2026.
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