France keeps night curfews and bans city-centre protests after weekend unrest

Curfews and demonstration limits stay

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez told BFMTV on Monday, 26 October, that the situation in the coming days will not differ much from what France has seen so far. Prefects, working with mayors, will decide on night curfews in a little more than a dozen cities. The ban on demonstrations in city centres also stays, citing risks to public order and damage to shops, and restrictions on march routes remain in place.

Weekend unrest and arrests

Nationwide protests against high living costs and for better education were marred by serious unrest on 17 October. On Saturday, 24 October, a large police presence prevented riots and damage on the same scale, but the minister said readiness to use violence remained just as high and that violent groups had slipped into the marches to escalate them. He blamed ultra-left activists for the violence, saying they had tried to start fights. He put the number of arrests at 1,435 and reported 267 police officers and more than 150 demonstrators injured.

Earlier provisional figures from the Interior Ministry, given before Monday, were lower: 1,314 detentions, 53 injured security personnel, looting at 24 businesses and 75 investigations linked to fires. Protests in Barcelona led to about 100 arrests, while disturbances were also reported in Nantes and Rennes.

Government and unions respond

Emmanuel Macron was expected to make an unannounced visit to Marseille on Monday morning, where riots and widespread looting had occurred about a week earlier. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu was due to meet student representatives about their demands for better equipment in secondary schools and more substitute teachers. New protests have been announced by yellow vest groups, and trade unionists said they want to keep demonstrating.

Next steps

Further demonstrations have been announced for Saturday, 31 October. Rallies and a general strike are planned for 5 November. The minister has said the restrictions will remain in place, so the curfews in the affected cities stay in force and marches in city centres stay banned.