Fifth Saturday of French protests draws 106,000 to 200,000 as turnout falls

Between 106,000 and 200,000 people marched across France on Saturday in the fifth straight week of protests over living costs and a proposal to give police greater legal protection, with turnout down from previous weekends. The interior ministry counted 106,000 nationwide, 24,000 of them in Paris, against 146,000 and 46,000 the week before; student unions claimed 200,000, almost 100,000 in the capital.

The country has faced high-school blockades, mass demonstrations and strikes for more than a month, with protesters citing falling educational standards, low wages and police violence. The ministry said 219 people were detained nationwide, 45 of them in Paris, noticeably fewer than at earlier protests. Marseille banned protests, yet the prefecture said about 3,500 people still marched, and local media reported tear gas and a water cannon. Clashes with police were also reported in Bordeaux, Lyon and Nantes. The first major protest, on October 17, saw looting in several cities.

Breitbart, on the right, leads with unrest and calls the marches Leftist protests, opening with police expectations of 30,000 to 60,000 in Paris, including potentially “300 to 600” radicals, plus 55 protests elsewhere. It highlights chants reported by Le Figaro, burning garbage cans near Place de la Nation, the claim that the police-protection bill is a “licence to kill”, and the 2023 Nahël riots. It does not mention the falling turnout or the low arrest count in the portion given. Al Jazeera and France 24 lead instead with the official and union turnout figures, the decline and the largely calm mood, and they stress cost-of-living grievances and calls for Macron to resign. Both sides report the police-protection proposal and clashes. Left-leaning outlets had not reported this story at the time of writing.