France Deploys 70,000 Police as Protests Draw Hundreds of Thousands

France mobilized 70,000 police officers and gendarmes on Saturday as hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets over rising living costs, education funding and public services, with President Emmanuel Macron’s government facing renewed pressure to contain unrest that has shaken the country.

The security deployment, announced by Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, included 10,000 more officers than were deployed during the previous weekend’s demonstrations. Police were supported by helicopters, drones, armoured vehicles, water cannon and specialist units as authorities prepared for possible clashes in Paris and other major cities.

The heightened security followed a violent weekend on October 17, when demonstrations were accompanied by widespread looting, vandalism, fires and clashes with police. Authorities said around 3,000 businesses had been damaged or looted, while the government’s estimate put last weekend’s national protest turnout at 550,000. The scale of the damage prompted shopkeepers to board up windows and led several major Paris cultural institutions to close ahead of Saturday’s rallies.

The latest demonstrations drew an estimated 410,000 people nationwide, according to the Interior Ministry, although the CGT trade union put the figure at nearly 800,000. In Paris, where authorities restricted the main march to the southeastern edge of the city, the government estimated that 110,000 people took part. The CGT said the capital’s turnout was about 250,000.

Much of Saturday’s protest activity was peaceful, but clashes broke out towards the end of the Paris march. Masked demonstrators threw objects and fireworks at police, who responded with tear gas, sound grenades and water cannon. Violence and confrontations were also reported in several other cities, including Marseille and Lyon, while police used crowd-control measures in places such as Nice, Nantes and Clermont-Ferrand. The Interior Ministry said officers had made nearly 1,000 arrests, with the total expected to rise as reports were consolidated.

The protest movement began with high school students demanding more teachers, better school facilities and improved learning conditions. It has since widened into a broader expression of frustration over the cost of living, fuel prices, public services and inequality, bringing students, workers and trade unions into demonstrations across the country. Student representatives who met Macron on Friday urged demonstrators to continue mobilizing until the government presents concrete measures to address their concerns.

The government has sought to distinguish peaceful demonstrations from violence and looting, blaming radical groups and opportunistic offenders for exploiting public anger. Nuñez warned that authorities would take a firm approach to those involved in attacks and property damage, while the government said security services had identified online calls for looting and assaults on public buildings. However, restrictions and bans imposed on some demonstrations have drawn criticism from trade unions and student groups, who argue that curbs on marches undermine the right to protest and risk deepening public frustration.

Security concerns have also extended beyond the main demonstrations. Authorities were monitoring the annual congress of Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party in Orléans, where counter-demonstrations were planned, while a suspected racist shooting west of Paris that killed one person and wounded others added to an already tense atmosphere. Museums including the Louvre and Musée d’Orsay closed for the day, and organizers cancelled the weekend programme of the Art Basel Paris fair after opening on Friday.

The protests have become a political challenge for Macron as France approaches the 2027 presidential election, with opposition parties using the unrest to attack the government’s handling of public order and living standards. While the heavier police presence appeared to limit the scale of looting compared with the previous weekend, the continued turnout and scattered clashes show that the dispute extends beyond security and into unresolved concerns about education, household costs and the quality of public services.