Paris bans union and yellow vest routes for Saturday protest, sets curfew in two districts

Routes banned in favour of one outer-city gathering

The Paris police prefecture issued orders on Friday 30 October rejecting the parade routes that the CGT union and the yellow vest groups had filed for Saturday's protest against the cost of living. The CGT had asked to march from 14:00, starting at Place de la Bastille and heading to Place de la Nation, while the yellow vests planned a rally from Bastille to Place de la Concorde, opposite the National Assembly. The prefecture judged both routes incompatible with public order, pointing to the many police stations, bank branches, shops and fast-food outlets along them. Instead, the separate processions must converge on a single gathering on the outskirts, between the Porte de Bagnolet and the Porte de Charenton, running from 12:00 to 18:00 with the march leaving at 14:00.

Curfew in two central districts

The prefecture has also ordered a curfew from 23:00 to 06:00 in the Place de la République and Châtelet-Les Halles sectors for the nights of Saturday to Sunday and Sunday to Monday. The order says the movement of people is banned in those two sectors because of existing disturbances of public order there. Halloween falls on the same Saturday, and the prefecture cites it among the reasons the measures remain necessary. Earlier curfews followed the violence of 17 and 18 October, when looting hit shops in the same central areas. After several consecutive nights of restrictions, the curfew was later kept only in the République sector.

Unions and students reject the decision

Clara Privé, the treasurer of the Unef student union, accused the prefecture of shifting protesters from one route to another during a press conference held by the joint union group.

“We find these methods unacceptable, and the prefecture wants to muzzle young people's voices.”

Privé said the students would try to march between Bastille and Nation regardless of the ban. The joint group announced it would challenge the order before the administrative court. Suzanne Nijdam, president of Fage, said legal action would be filed that day, arguing the decision endangered safety.

“We are going to take legal action today against this decision, which for us endangers safety.”

Security forces prepare for the weekend

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced that 70,000 police officers and gendarmes would be mobilised for the Saturday protest. A telegram from the national police director general, Louis Laugier, seen by 20 Minutes, calls for a particularly visible presence and deterrent units able to stop any violence, and it sets a 75% attendance rate in stations and companies. The Raid will protect public buildings, water cannon vehicles will be positioned, and drones will provide an aerial view. Transport checks will target trains bound for Paris as well as stations and sensitive sites.

Rudy Manna of the Unsa police union said the deployment would be even bigger than the previous week's.

“It is huge, and I think the deployment will be even bigger than last week's.”

Manna warned that police could not sustain this pace for three months and feared a crisis similar to the yellow vest movement.

Earlier mobilisations

The mobilisations of 17 and 24 October were called by the unions and the yellow vests, and the 17 October protests were marked by serious disorder, with thousands of arrests reported. Organisers said the mass protests this month brought together more than half a million people, and student groups were the first to drive them. Figures cited by 20 Minutes put the most recent mobilisation at between 410,000 and 800,000 people, against 550,000 to 800,000 in the one before it.

What comes next

The march is scheduled for Saturday 31 October, with the authorised route open from 12:00 to 18:00 and the first curfew night beginning at 23:00 that evening. The unions and students have said they will contest the orders in court, and no ruling has been reported yet. Police have not published a count of participants for Saturday, so the size of the turnout remains open.