France deployed 70,000 police officers across the country on Saturday, October 24, 2026, as fresh protests over the cost of living and school conditions began under a heavy security blanket, with 135 people arrested by early afternoon and police firing tear gas at crowds in Lyon.
135 arrests and tear gas in Lyon
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said 135 people had been arrested nationwide by early afternoon, many following pre-emptive searches that uncovered fireworks, ball bearings, slingshots, steel balls and other items that could be used as weapons, according to Reuters and BFMTV. In Lyon, police fired tear gas to disperse a gathering of around 150 people near Lyon 3 University, in an area where demonstrations had been banned. In Grenoble, people attempting to block the A480 motorway caused a collision between two vehicles, leaving two people with minor injuries. Police in Paris carried out 635 security checks, seizing items including a knife, an angle grinder and protective equipment, while authorities in Montpellier, Nancy, Caen and Annecy rejected requests to hold demonstrations.
"We have to be ultra, ultra responsive. We have significant calls for disruption from political groups and quite simply from criminals," Nunez told reporters. "It is going to be a long day." He added that there had been "no major incident" as of midday.
A city braced for a repeat of last weekend
The government deployed 10,000 more officers than on October 17, when protests over the cost of living and deteriorating public services descended into some of the worst unrest France has seen in years, with thousands of shops damaged or looted and more than 2,000 people taken into custody, according to official figures cited by Al Jazeera. Much of central Paris took on the appearance of a city under lockdown on Saturday: shopkeepers boarded up storefronts, museums including the Louvre and the Musee d'Orsay closed, and more than 20 metro stations shut. The main Paris march was restricted to the capital's southeastern edge, away from the city centre.
What the protesters want, and what the government says
The protests began as school blockades near Paris in September and have grown into nationwide marches over schools, universities and the cost of living. Student and teacher groups point to staff shortages, overcrowded classes and dilapidated buildings, and student organisations want 250,000 more university places and an overhaul of Parcoursup, the national admissions platform. President Emmanuel Macron met student representatives on Friday, promising more teachers and a deep overhaul of Parcoursup, but student representatives called for further mobilisation until the government presents concrete actions.
Macron has blamed "ultra-left" groups wanting to "bring down the republic" for the worst of last weekend's violence, while protest organisers accuse the government of ignoring widespread public anger and of attacking the right to protest by banning non-union-led demonstrations. Adding to the tension, Marine Le Pen's National Rally held a congress in Orleans to launch her campaign for elections in six months, and thousands marched against both Le Pen and Macron, chanting "Macron resign. Le Pen in prison," according to The Hindu.
Nighttime curfews for unaccompanied minors, initially introduced in Lille, Denain, Douai and Wattignies, were extended until Monday morning and expanded to Marly and Valenciennes. The key takeaway: Saturday stayed largely calm by midday, but with 70,000 officers on the streets, boarded-up shops and competing accusations over who is responsible for the unrest, France's protest crisis is far from settled.
Watch: Videos of the October 24, 2026 protests across France
Music in this post's reel: Kevin MacLeod - Movement Proposition (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0
Sources: Al Jazeera, Reuters via KTWB, A News.