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400,000 Protest Across France Over Living Costs and School Funding
Confirmed
In Short: More than 400,000 people rallied across France on October 31, 2026, protesting against rising living costs and school funding issues, challenging President Emmanuel Macron.
Organizers from the 'yellow vest' protest movement called for another day of rallies on October 31 to defend the right to demonstrate, following widespread rioting and looting during previous protests.
The Paris march began peacefully but turned violent near its endpoint, with clashes erupting as the mass march drew to a close.
According to the Interior Ministry, 410,000 protesters participated nationwide, while the CGT union estimated nearly 800,000. In Paris alone, government estimates put the number at 110,000, with the march confined to the city’s southeastern edge.
Elsewhere in France, cities like Toulouse saw 26,500 protesters, and Lyon, Clermont-Ferrand, and Strasbourg reported police use of tear gas, while water cannons were used in Nice and Nantes.
Soumaya Abed, a 58-year-old nurse, said she had been joining protests for more than 30 years but had never seen one start at Porte d'Italie, on the capital's outskirts, indicating the scale and uniqueness of the current protests.
The Paris prosecutor's office reported 64 people had been arrested in connection with the demonstration, with 40 placed in police custody.
Protesters held signs reading “Fashion but not fascist” and “Time for revolution,” reflecting the diverse and sometimes contentious nature of the demonstrations.
In Paris, at least 110,000 people marched along the eastern edge of the city, according to government estimates, with some areas blockaded by demonstrators.
The unrest is testing Macron’s authority in the final months of his presidency before voters choose his successor in May.
Energy prices in France were 21.3% higher in September than a year earlier, helping drive overall inflation to 3.1%, according to the national statistics agency, INSEE.
A 21-year-old student from a Paris science faculty said, “We feel in France that we are increasingly living in an authoritarian regime that is trying to stop our democratic right to protest in the street.”
What this adds
The protests are part of a broader trend of social unrest fueling demonstrations across Europe, as reported by PBS.
The protests are testing Macron’s authority in the final months of his presidency before voters choose his successor in May.
What's confirmed
- The Paris march began peacefully, a week after widespread rioting and looting during protests across the country.
- Organizers from the "yellow vest" protest movement called for another day of rallies Oct. 31 to defend the right to demonstrate.
- The Paris prosecutor's office said 64 people had been arrested in connection with Saturday's demonstration and 40 placed in police custody.
- In the southwestern city of Toulouse, 26,500 people joined the protests, according to authorities.
- The ministry's estimate included 110,000 in Paris, where authorities had confined the march to the city's southeastern edge, away from the center.
- Soumaya Abed, a 58-year-old nurse wearing a red CGT union vest, said she had been joining protests for more than 30 years, but had never seen one start at Porte d'Italie, on the capital's outskirts.
- "The young people who have been demonstrating have not been heard, and as a parent and as a teacher, I stand with them," Pittion said.
- "They are using what happened last week as an excuse to quiet protesters," she said.
- The Paris march began peacefully but turned violent near its endpoint.
- The Interior Ministry reported 410,000 protesters nationwide, while the CGT union estimated nearly 800,000.
- 23, 2026 after planned anti-government protests prompted organizers to cancel their weekend program.
- Protesters hold signs reading “Fashion but not fascist” and “Time for revolution” during a protest on the sidelines of the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) Congress in Orléans, France, Saturday, Oct.
What's still developing
- Why thousands of high school students in France are protesting Following the unrest, Paris police prefect Patrice Faure urged Parisian shopkeepers to hire security guards.
- More than 400,000 people rallied across France over school funding and soaring living costs, challenging President Emmanuel Macron.
- READ MORE: From France to Albania, how social unrest is fueling protests across Europe Officers with megaphones urged protesters to disperse.
- Protesters attend an authorised demonstration organised by labour unions in Paris as part of nationwide protests called by the "Yellow Vests" movement joined by French high school and university students against the cost of living and rising fuel prices, in France, on Oct. 24, 2026.
- Protesters dressed as Spider-Man attend a demonstration against rising living costs in Rennes, France, Saturday, Oct.
- “There are enormous numbers of people in the same situation as me but who aren’t privileged and who find themselves living on the streets and in squats and, frankly, it’s very tough,” she said.