Hundreds of thousands of people marched across France on Saturday, Oct. 31, in a third consecutive weekend of demonstrations over living costs and education that began with high school students and has spread to other parts of Europe, according to the Associated Press.
Turnout and security
France's government estimated 320,000 protesters nationwide, fewer than the 410,000 it counted on Oct. 24 and the 550,000 on Oct. 17, when protests deteriorated into some of the country's worst rioting in years. Organizers give higher figures. About 70,000 police and gendarmes were deployed after Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez warned of a "very high risk" of disorder, especially after dark on Halloween. Paris marches were rerouted to the capital's edge to protect stores, government buildings and tourist areas. Authorities reported more than 560 arrests nationwide by Saturday night.
A mostly peaceful march that ended in tear gas
The rallies were overwhelmingly peaceful, with some marchers in Halloween costumes, techno music and trick-or-treating. Student Corentin Cabreux, 21, described state-run student housing with damp walls, cockroaches and rats. One protester came dressed as a beheaded Marie Antoinette, calling it a symbol of "a figure of power who was brought down by the people." But clashes erupted near Porte de Charenton at the end of the main Paris march, where protesters threw bottles and fireworks and police fired stun grenades and tear gas. Paris police barred entry to some neighborhoods overnight, and a separate curfew applied to unaccompanied minors near the Champs-Élysées after a court suspended an earlier one.
How it began
The movement started last month with high school students protesting neglected school buildings, teacher shortages and a university admissions system seen as unfair to disadvantaged students. Labor unions and people angry with President Emmanuel Macron's leadership then joined in.
Elsewhere in Europe
In Germany, a youth initiative called "Gen Z regelt" rallied in more than 30 cities for education, health, climate protection and an affordable life, and against any return of military conscription. Police used water cannons in Cologne and Hamburg, and in Frankfurt several officers were injured by thrown stones, one severely. In Lisbon, thousands of people, including families, peacefully protested Portugal's housing crisis with signs reading "Houses or Fire."
Sources: PBS NewsHour, Associated Press