France deploys 70,000 police and gendarmes for Saturday's protests on Halloween

Security plan for Saturday

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced on Thursday, 29 October, that about 70,000 police officers and gendarmes will be deployed for the protests planned on Saturday, 31 October. He described the set-up as exceptional and said it matches the volume used on Saturday, 24 October. He warned that the day carries a very high risk of public order disturbances. The security scheme introduced on 24 October to protect shops and shopping centres will be kept and reinforced, he told a press conference. Demonstrations will be permitted, but not in city centres, where he said the danger of disorder is too high. He promised extreme firmness and said no excess would be tolerated.

2026-10-2470,000

2026-10-3170,000

2026-10-24

70000 officers

2026-10-31

70000 officers

Data from the article text

Warnings about Halloween gatherings

A telegram Nuñez signed on Wednesday, 28 October, and addressed to prefects, notes that many calls to gather in city centres and on public squares, presented as Halloween celebrations, have been spotted on social networks. According to the ministry, these calls come from ultra-left groups, radicalised far-left activists and websites linked to radicalised yellow vests. Some messages urge people to start a revolution or an insurrection and explicitly encourage serious disturbances, including looting and vandalism. The minister said the analysis of these calls leaves no doubt about the intentions of those behind them. Mayors will ban the gatherings. Nuñez added that Halloween will not count as a legitimate reason to conceal one's face in public spaces. He expects the risk of urban violence to be very high from the early evening into the late night, particularly after 20:00.

Background to the protests

Protests against the high cost of living drew hundreds of thousands of people across France on 17 October and 24 October. Violence, acts of vandalism and numerous cases of looting were recorded, mainly in Paris and Marseille, on the margins of the 17 October demonstrations. Nuñez offered his resignation at one point and acknowledged a loss of control in some cities, but President Emmanuel Macron did not accept it. Yellow vest groups and student and school unions have called for the Saturday mobilisation, notably against the cost of living. BFMTV reports that the authorities also point to a heightened terrorist threat following a racist attack in Trappes in the Yvelines.

Deployment on the ground

A telegram from the director general of the national police asked units to raise the rate of officers present to 75%, according to BFMTV, which confirmed an RMC report. Reserve officers may be called up to boost street numbers, and the CRS units are being asked to make as many units as possible available. As on the previous weekend, the Raid tactical unit will be sent to protect the most exposed public buildings. Officers are expected to be highly visible on public roads to deter offenders and to act quickly to protect institutions, shops and the right to demonstrate. Drones will support police along protest routes, and water cannon vehicles will be deployed systematically.

Education minister on youth anger

Asked on Thursday about the handling of youth protests, Education Minister Édouard Geffray said he shared President Macron's mea culpa.

“We certainly should have been faster.”

Geffray said that once in office, leaders make the decisions they consider right and only later wonder whether they should have acted differently. He said the government had wanted to engage in dialogue, noting that an online platform for young people to submit grievances had been closed and that the government had then taken a number of decisions. He described it as the first time young people had been given a real say in outcomes, not only a chance to speak.