Almost 1,000 arrested as clashes follow another day of mass protests across France

24 October 2026, 20: 28 BST. Updated 20 minutes ago.

Key points

• While the unions put the number at regarding 800, 000, the interior ministry remarked an estimated 410, 000 residents protested on Saturday.
• Some 13, 000 individuals joined a rally against the hard-right National Rally party in the north-central city of Orléans which proceeded peacefully.
• Around 550, 000 individuals took part in last weekend's demonstrations against rising fuel costs and the cost of living, with frustrations escalating after weeks of student protests.
• Nuñez remarked late in the day that almost 1, 000 individuals had been arrested, a number he remarked would growth.
• While clashes were additionally noted in Belgium's capital Brussels, in Albania's capital Tirana, riot police fired tear gas to disperse thousands of anti-government demonstrators.

Almost 1, 000 arrests were produced as hundreds of thousands of individuals took part in another day of protests throughout France which were followed by some clashes late on Saturday, authorities have noted.

While barricades were set alight in Marseille and residents ripped boards from a shop in Bordeaux, after a day of largely peaceful demonstrations, police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters in a number of cities including Paris.

But authorities have so far managed to avoid rioting and looting on the scale seen last weekend. It resulted in some of the worst scenes of disorder in France's modern history.

Some 70, 000 police officers were deployed and restrictions imposed in a number of cities to prevent the latest protests over the cost of living and poor school conditions from descending into the kind of chaos which saw officers outnumbered, hundreds of businesses looted and buildings torched.

President Emmanuel Macron had decreed earlier this week that only demonstrations organised by a recognised trade unions would be permitted. Hundreds of individuals have been jailed for vandalism, arson and looting after fast-track court hearings in recent days.

Clashes between protesters and riot police in Paris erupted at the end of a peaceful march from the city's Porte d'Italie towards Porte de Vincennes on Saturday, where the police operation included an elite unit that usually deals with organised crime and counter-terrorism.

While police baton-charged groups of masked youths who were smashing the windows of a car dealership, some protesters were seen erecting makeshift barricades and pelting officers with projectiles.

According to French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, "several thousand radical activists gathered at the rear of the march, including around 500 individuals identified as rioters", the AFP news agency noted.

In the southern port of Marseille, rubbish bins were set ablaze and metal sheets applied to block streets. A law enforcement vehicle was seen driving through a burning barricade in France's second-largest city.

Meanwhile, some protesters in dark clothing and face coverings were seen taking boards off a building to build a street barricade in the southern city of Bordeaux.

In Lyon, police applied tear gas grenades to disperse a crowd which had reportedly gathered in an area deemed off-limits by the local prefecture.

"There were around 150 of us, mostly secondary school and university students. Then the tear gas came almost immediately. You could barely see anything in the street, " remarked one protester in France's third-largest city.

In practice, the minister additionally stated two individuals had been "seriously injured": one in the south-western city of Toulouse, and another one in Clermont-Ferrand, central France.

Earlier, a peaceful protester in Paris who offered her name as Zelie informed the BBC individuals had taken to the streets as they were "really frustrated" and had been "suffering a lot" since Macron came to office.

"They keep us quiet. They take our funds, they tax us a lot and we can't say anything. Today we are in the streets since it's been too long, it's been too much, " the 26-year-old stated.

Two masked teenage protesters. This person did not want to offer their names, additionally noted their generation was in despair and felt abandoned by the administration.

"I think looting is really not good, " one of the demonstrators remarked of last Saturday's disorder. "But it's because of poverty and the violence of the police."

He continued that the protests would end "when we have a response to our demands. We really want a change in France".

Meanwhile, some 13, 000 individuals joined a rally against the hard-right National Rally party in the north-central city of Orléans which proceeded peacefully.

Mass protests triggered by similar problems as in France additionally rocked a number of other European cities on Saturday.

In Milan, northern Italy, a major security operation including hundreds of soldiers alongside police prevented protesters gathering in the city. Plenty of had feared a repeat of violent scenes last week when some kicked off fires, smashed windows and looted shops.

Around 550, 000 individuals took part in last weekend's demonstrations against rising fuel costs and the cost of living, with frustrations escalating after weeks of student protests. The chaos which followed resulted in more than 2, 500 arrests.

Marches were initially largely peaceful but became marred by scenes of violence, looting and destruction, with more than 2, 000 shops and other businesses throughout France stated to have been directly impacted. The damage was estimated "at hundreds of millions euros", France's Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CCI) remarked.

While regarding 1, 000 police officers were injured, one demonstrator's hand was blown off by a police crowd-control grenade, according to the AFP news agency.

Notably, the French authorities afterwards stated they were forced to impose overnight curfews in Paris and other cities.

For context, the continuing protests come ahead of France's presidential elections in six months' time, and leading contenders have levelled the blame at Macron and his ministers.

For now, almost 1, 000 arrested as clashes follow another day of mass protests across remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.