Paris protests: 135 arrests across France, interior minister says
Demonstrations in Paris and across France follow weeks of social unrest over cost of living and education; authorities report hundreds of arrests and widened security measures.
Protests swept Paris on 24 October 2026, with demonstrators marching from Porte d'Italie to Porte de Vincennes starting at 14:00, while the French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said that by 13:00 a total of 135 arrests had been recorded across the country.
"As I speak, most of these arrests are the result of checks on the flow of goods and the seizure of materials intended for use as weapons," Nunez said. Police in several cities intervened after attempts by protesters to block roads; in one southeastern town officers fired tear gas to disperse a crowd gathered near a university faculty and a police station.
Nationwide numbers and security measures
According to figures released by the Ministry of the Interior, 35,000 people demonstrated across France on Saturday, down from 60,000 the previous week. "136 public demonstrations were registered, compared with 264 last week," the minister said, adding: "We remain extremely vigilant because some extremist groups call for action." Authorities had earlier pledged a deployment of 70,000 police and gendarmes for the day, with special attention on Orléans where the National Rally (Rassemblement National) is holding a party congress.
In Paris, business owners boarded up windows and some hired private security. At the request of the police prefecture, at least 24 metro stations were closed. Major cultural institutions including the Louvre and the Musée d'Orsay closed for the day, and Art Basel Paris canceled its weekend programme.
The protests, driven by anger over the rising cost of living, falling purchasing power and demands for more public investment and better conditions in education, began in mid-September when secondary school students blocked their schools citing dilapidated buildings, staff shortages and an unfair higher-education admissions system. On 17 October more than half a million people marched nationwide following calls from student organisations and remnants of the Yellow Vest movement.
President Emmanuel Macron met student representatives on Friday for the first time since the unrest began and promised more teachers and a fundamental overhaul of the Parcoursup university admissions system. The meeting failed to calm tensions, and student leaders called for continued mobilisation until the government presents concrete measures.
Photo: press material from the event
