Protests Spread Across France as Authorities Ban Gatherings and Trump Blames Immigration

Tens of thousands of people marched in France on Saturday, October 24, in the latest round of protests that began in late September when high school students started blocking campuses. Organizers estimated up to 250,000 marchers in Paris and more than 800,000 nationwide. The Paris Police Prefecture banned all assemblies in Bastille Square and much of central Paris, and the Paris march received last-minute authorization for a boulevard on the city's southeastern edge. This followed violent clashes and rioting a week earlier. Prefects have imposed curfews in several medium-sized towns. Students were joined by wider groups angry about high gasoline prices, inflation and falling real wages. France's deficit is expected to reach 5.4 percent of GDP in 2026, the eurozone's highest. On October 26 the government hinted at replacing the Parcoursup university selection platform, capping class sizes and funding building renovations. Protests have also hit Italy, Belgium and Greece, and Spain's housing protests led Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to call snap elections for late November. President Donald Trump told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that the unrest is an immigration problem, not a school problem.

Fox News, on the right, leads with Trump's remarks after a Texas rally ahead of next week's midterms. It features his claim that he has warned Macron for a decade that France could lose its country, his report of a conversation with U.S. Ambassador Charles Kushner, and his statement that some people hate France and must be removed. It treats the protests as student demonstrations that grew into broader unrest, and gives no protester or French government voices. The Nation, on the left, frames France's response as a permanent state of emergency, focusing on the Bastille ban, the €135 fine, boarded-up businesses, curfews and the crowd estimates, and it does not mention immigration. Both sides agree the unrest began with students and has spread. They differ on cause and focus: the right cites immigration, while the left emphasizes policing. Jacobin offers a distinct angle on economic strain, the deficit and European youth protests.