• Analysis
France protests draw 320,000 as Nuñez warns masked Halloween troublemakers face €150 fine
Around 320,000 people joined France protests across the country on Saturday, the interior ministry estimated, in a third weekend of demonstrations against living costs and police violence - while Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez warned that Halloween masks worn with intent to disrupt public order are an offence carrying a €150 fine.
A €150 fine for masks used with malicious intent
With Saturday's marches falling on Halloween, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez warned that anyone using a mask to cause trouble would be breaking the law. Covering the face to disrupt public order in public spaces, he said, is an offence punishable by a €150 fine.
"Using Halloween night as an excuse will not be a legitimate reason to cover one's face in public spaces"
Nuñez made clear the warning applied to those acting with malicious intent. National Police spokesperson Agathe Foucault added that officers would need to exercise discretion in telling potentially violent protesters apart from ordinary passersby, and said children in Halloween costumes would not be considered to have malicious intent.
Turnout disputed between ministry and youth unions
The interior ministry estimated around 320,000 protesters nationwide on Saturday, while youth unions counted nearly half a million, including 200,000 in Paris according to a coalition of youth organisations and unions. Authorities put the Paris crowd at 70,000, down from 110,000 the previous weekend.
Both counts were below earlier weekends:
- •410,000 protesters were counted by officials nationwide the previous Saturday
- •550,000 were counted on October 17, when riots erupted across the country
- •It was the third consecutive weekend of protests by trade unions, students and Yellow Vest activists over soaring living costs and police violence
France Unbowed (LFI) candidate for the 2027 presidential election, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, took part in the Paris demonstration.
Clashes and arrests across the country
Police arrested more than 290 people across France on Saturday, the interior ministry said - though the ministry described the situation as generally calm. By 2:00pm (1300 GMT), 27 arrests had been made, compared with 217 at the same point a week earlier.
The ministry said the marches themselves had proceeded smoothly, but that radical elements in cities including Bordeaux, Toulouse and Marseille tried to enter city centres to vandalise and loot.
Tension still flared at the end of the marches:
- •In Paris, dozens of masked people dressed in black used hammers to pry up paving stones and throw them at police; at least one incendiary device was thrown, and police fired tear gas and made baton charges
- •The Paris police prefecture said a hard core of several hundred rioters at the rear of the march was attacking police with projectiles including a Molotov cocktail, and that officers were manoeuvering to restore public order
- •In Lyon, people threw projectiles at police, who responded with tear gas
- •In Toulouse, police used water cannon against an unauthorised protest of several thousand mostly young, partly costumed demonstrators
Tear gas was also fired at some people on the sidelines of marches in Marseille and other cities.
What comes next: school blockades
Two French student unions have called for blockades of high schools and universities on Tuesday and Thursday, ahead of a November 5 demonstration called by workers and trade unions.
Sabrine Kharbach, spokesperson for the Union étudiante, announced the plan at the Paris march.
"Starting this Tuesday, we will blockade our universities and high schools, and we will do so again on Thursday"
The blockades are to continue through Thursday before the unions join the November 5 demonstration.
