Curfews renewed Tuesday evening in several cities including Paris and Lyon, the measure introduced for the first time in Marseille

Curfews were renewed or introduced in several cities in France on Tuesday, October 20, after the violence of the weekend. A measure targeting only minors is thus put in place for the first time in several points in Marseille, which joins Paris and Lyon in particular, while in Toulouse the measure is announced from Thursday evening.

In Paris, the curfew was renewed on Place de la République and in an area of ​​the Les Halles district, from 11 p.m. Tuesday until 6 a.m. Wednesday. Another decree prohibits “any undeclared gathering” from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., particularly around the Elysée, the National Assembly, the Senate, the Champs-Elysées, Châtelet, Place Vendôme or train stations. The curfew “continues today and as long as it is necessary”, writes the police headquarters on X, showing a video of certain rounds carried out Monday evening.

In the hyper-center of Lyon, the Rhône prefect also renewed the curfew, from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., estimating that this measure had “contributed to calm” during the night from Monday to Tuesday. The ban on gatherings is renewed and its duration extended: it now begins at 4 p.m. and not 6 p.m., ending at 9 p.m., when the curfew begins.

This choice “allows us to provide a response that combines both security and reassuring and effective protection for traders and residents of the Presqu’île while allowing the continuation of service and business activities in the evening,” says the prefecture. The curfew is in place in an area where more than 150 shops were vandalized and sometimes looted on Saturday. It includes Place Bellecour, where demonstrators gathered on Saturday and a branch of the tourist office was set on fire and destroyed.

In Marseille, a measure limited to minors

A localized curfew is also established in Marseille, targeting “only minors”, from 10 p.m. Tuesday evening, and until 5 a.m. The measure will remain in force "for the coming days", the city's mayor Benoît Payan said on X. It concerns part of the city center, and in particular La Canebière, as well as seven commercial areas, details France 3. Sectors of the city of Aubagne and the commercial area of ​​Plan de Campagne, victim of an attempted looting on Saturday, are also affected.

“This decision, if it can relieve businesses and facilitate the work of the police, must be accompanied by a sufficient deployment of police forces throughout the city,” continues Benoît Payan, who had criticized the system put in place on October 17, like his Parisian and Lyon counterparts.

In Toulouse, the prefecture announced the implementation of a curfew from Thursday evening and until Sunday, between midnight and 5 a.m. In Bordeaux and Nice, they had already been announced for several days, and are continuing as planned.

Where they were in force during the night from Monday to Tuesday, these measures "contributed" to a return of calm, said Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu on Tuesday, adding that new curfews would be decided "where the situation requires it".