Youth-Led Protests Sweep France and Parts of Europe Over Living Costs and Education

Hundreds of thousands of mostly young protesters took to the streets across France on Saturday in a third consecutive weekend of demonstrations over living costs and education. About 70,000 police and gendarmes were deployed across the country, with Paris marches rerouted to the capital’s edge. Youth-led demonstrations were also reported in Germany and Italy.

The French government estimated that 320,000 people protested nationwide on Saturday, fewer than in previous protests but still a significant turnout. Mass protests on October 17 that deteriorated into some of France's worst rioting in years drew more than 500,000 people around France, and demonstrations on October 24 drew 410,000, according to government estimates. Organizers' turnout estimates were considerably higher.

French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez warned of a "very high risk" of disorder, especially after dark on Halloween. Police had arrested thousands of people following riots and looting that marred the largely peaceful protest marches the previous two Saturdays. At Porte de Bagnolet, on the eastern edge of Paris, thousands gathered behind a line of students who led the march hand in hand. Security agents from the CGT, one of France’s largest labor unions, were keeping watch at the front of the gathering, while police were massed on side streets.

The Interior Ministry stated that of the 320,000 protesting Saturday, 70,000 people were estimated to have turned out for the main protest in Paris, which police moved outside the city center to reduce the risk of unrest around government buildings and tourist sites after a last-minute court battle.

The marchers' grievances were diverse, with high school students, climate activists, and individuals angry about the cost of living carrying their own banners. Some protesters wore Halloween costumes, including a zombie Michael Jackson, a pirate, and a Spider-Man. Protesters waited calmly, chanting and singing through megaphones.

Corentin Cabreux, a 21-year-old student, described conditions at his state-run student residence: "there are damp stains all along the bottom of my walls, whole sections peeling off, cockroaches everywhere, rats." He expressed hope that Saturday’s protest would be festive in honor of Halloween, to counter the image of violence that has attached itself to France’s protests.

The rallies began last month as a movement of high school students protesting neglected buildings, teacher shortages, and a university admissions system perceived as unfair to disadvantaged students. Labor unions and others angered by President Emmanuel Macron joined in with a variety of demands.

While the vast majority of protesters remained peaceful, groups of troublemakers routinely targeted police with fireworks and projectiles. Some protests degenerated into rioting and looting, including unrest on October 17 that appeared to take the government by surprise. Police responded with tear gas, dispersion grenades, water cannons, and other tactics that resulted in severe injuries.

President Macron had said that Saturday's marches would stay out of city centers to protect shops. Police also barred people from entering Place de la Republique and Les Halles from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. Unaccompanied minors faced a separate 9 p.m. curfew around the Champs-Elysees. A Paris court had suspended an earlier curfew on minors, deeming it a serious and illegal infringement of freedom of movement.

In Germany, a youth initiative called "Gen Z regelt"—roughly "Gen Z’s got this”—rallied in many cities "for education, health, climate protection and an affordable life," and against any return of military conscription. Organizers said that more than 180,000 people had signed up online, but only several thousand marched in various cities across the country by Saturday afternoon. Young protesters also gathered at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate, demanding more investments in education and housing.

"We call for more money to be invested in social services and education, as well as in climate protection — in short, in our future — because we are the ones who will be affected by this the longest and who will have to live with it," said high school student Lara Breitenbach. Janelle Schulz, another high school student from Berlin, echoed the sentiment, stating that authorities needed to invest more in education. "At my school, the ceiling is collapsing because of water damage, nothing is being done about it, we have a shortage of teachers, the toilets are broken," she said.

Some shops on Berlin's Kurfuerstendamm boulevard had boarded up their windows on Friday, although authorities were unaware of specific threats of violence. An additional 1,500 police officers were deployed to the German capital to quell possible riots.

In The Hague, Netherlands, a strong police presence was noted in and around the downtown shopping area on Saturday afternoon following online appeals for protests and fears of rioting and looting. However, there was little sign of protests and no major disturbances by midafternoon. Police frisked some groups of black-clad youngsters and checked their identities, according to local media. Many stores in the city were also boarded up as a precaution.

In Barcelona, Spain, regional police planned to activate their highest-level alert after an anonymous TikTok network called Blocus urged new gatherings. Rioting there on October 24 led to approximately 130 arrests, mostly of minors. Italian police were on alert after clashes in Milan, Turin, and Bologna, and calls to protest circulated on TikTok in Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, and Portugal.