Some 779 people were arrested in France during the day and evening of Saturday, “without major incident” for this second part of the evening, during Act III of the mobilization against the high cost of living, according to a latest report on Sunday from the Ministry of the Interior.
During this third day of demonstrations, 291 public actions were counted, bringing together 320,000 people including 70,000 in Paris, according to the ministry, which specifies having carried out 40,000 checks on the national territory. On October 24, 289 actions had been recorded for 410,000 people (including 110,000 in Paris).
On October 17, the ministry had identified 441 actions bringing together 550,000 people (including 110,000 in Paris).
In all, 159 members of the police were injured during the mobilizations on Saturday, writes the Ministry of the Interior in its report.
The ministry mentions 515 fire outbreaks dealt with, 36 businesses damaged, including 3 looted (compared to 69 including 24 looted on October 24).
Beauvau notes that on Saturday at 9 p.m., “565 arrests were made (1435 on Saturday October 24, 2628 on Saturday October 17), 116 members of the police were injured (267 on October 24, 1144 the week before)”.
From 9 p.m., for Halloween evening, 214 people were arrested (170 in 2025, 148 in 2024) and 43 members of the police injured (16 in 2025, 11 in 2024).
Rebelote. After two weeks of All Saints' Day vacation, high school students and students return to class this Monday, November 2. While the three weeks preceding their vacation were very agitated by the blockades in front of the establishments, leading the latter to partially or completely close, the return to calm is uncertain this return to school. Several organizations called for blocking access to high schools and colleges this Monday. At the beginning of October, the Ministry of National Education counted the partial or total closure of 400 to 500 high schools across the country. The week before the holidays, access to around 200 establishments remained disrupted.
Pierre Sourzat, at the head of the Lycéens!, called this Sunday, November 1 for a blockade of high schools “from Monday” on the microphone of RMC. “It will be more from Tuesday, but we know that there are high schools which will be blocked from tomorrow. And we support all our comrades who are blocking their high schools tomorrow,” he said. The day before, a day of demonstrations throughout France, the High School Union (USL) and the Student Union called for high schools and universities to be blocked this Tuesday. Same story from the student union Unef, which invites young people “to organize themselves in all universities” this Monday and Tuesday.
The number of damage to businesses on the sidelines of Saturday's demonstrations in France was significantly lower than during previous weekends, with 20 establishments affected according to CCI France, which recalls that brands are also experiencing a drop in their turnover.
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry counted 2,488 businesses affected on October 17 and 50 on October 24, according to a previous report.
In a statement to AFP on Sunday, CCI France is particularly concerned about the impact of the demonstrations on the attractiveness of France and the activity of businesses in the run-up to the end-of-year holidays, which represent a peak in activity for local businesses.
The drop in turnover of businesses located near the demonstrations is now estimated at between -60% and -80% compared to the turnover of a normal Saturday.
Earlier in the week, the CCI had mentioned an 80% drop in turnover.
Five arrests took place in Marseille this Saturday evening for a burglary in a Foot Locker in the 1st arrondissement. “Colleagues are progressing in the dark,” police sources indicate to Le Figaro. A law enforcement helicopter is in the sky. The store, which is located along rue Saint-Ferréol and at the corner of rue Pisançon, was attacked very early in the evening.
According to consistent sources, the police quickly arrested the suspects, who tried to break into the store's reserve. The Marseille brand had already been robbed on October 17. According to our information, several other businesses in France's second city were damaged this Saturday evening, including a wine cellar as well as a delicatessen on rue Saint-Michel, a stone's throw from La Plaine.
Furthermore, 750m2 of tags were erased this morning in Marseille in addition to the 400 from last night.
By Nicolas Farmine, in Marseille
Pierre Sourzat, head of Lycéens!, called on Sunday for a blockade of high schools “from Monday”, denouncing the “counter policy” of the government which unveiled several measures at the start of the week to try to extinguish the anger of young people.
After 15 days of vacation, “of course we are calling for a blockade” and “the high schools will be blocked, starting Monday,” said Mr. Sourzat on RMC.
“It will be more from Tuesday, but we know that there are high schools which will be blocked from tomorrow. And we support all our comrades who are blocking their high schools from tomorrow,” he said while the High School Union (USL) and the Student Union called on Saturday to block high schools and universities on Tuesday and then Thursday, November 5, an inter-professional strike day.
Emmanuel Macron called on Thursday for classes to resume “calmly”, “taking into account the fact that young people have been heard”.
The Minister of the Interior described to the press as “an attempted murder” the molotov cocktail attack against a mobile gendarme who was “simply slightly injured”.
Marine Le Pen and Bruno Retailleau denounce an “unbearable” act Presidential election candidates Marine Le Pen (National Rally) and Bruno Retailleau (Les Républicains) denounced on Saturday an “unbearable” gesture after the broadcast of images showing a member of the police receiving a jet of molotov cocktail at the end of the Paris demonstration.
“The perpetrators of this attack must be found and condemned with the greatest severity,” Marine Le Pen wrote on X, thanking the police for their mobilization.
“Whoever did this must answer for it. This is an attempted murder,” wrote LR boss and former Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau.
It's done. German youth have today joined the cohort of young Europeans who are protesting against a blocked future, a crumbling education system, too expensive living and even the lack of consideration towards them from those in power. At the call of the group “GenZ takes care of it” (GenZ regelt), unknown until two weeks ago, thousands of demonstrators demonstrated in nearly thirty German cities. The organizers were counting on a total of at least 160,000 participants. But by mid-afternoon, police feedback suggested a mobilization clearly below this figure.
While a few smoke bombs caused problems in Leipzig or Hamburg, and eggs flew towards the police in Frankfurt, the atmosphere of the group, installed in front of the Brandenburg Gate, was rather peaceful. By the looks of it, a large portion of the demonstrators were clearly older than the famous Generation Z (between 14 and 29 years old in 2026). Here and there a few Palestinian and antifa flags flew. But also Serbian, French and even East German flags. All accompanied by signs with heterogeneous slogans against Chancellor Merz, against ultraliberal capitalism or investments in armaments. Or even against Germany's unconditional support for Israel.
Some 565 people were arrested throughout the country and five members of the police (four police officers and a gendarme) were injured in Paris, according to a report at 9 p.m. from the Ministry of the Interior and the police headquarters.
Arrests were recorded in several cities, from Toulouse (28) to Metz (11, 8 placements in police custody).
During the previous mobilization, on October 24, 768 arrests were made at the end of the day compared to 385 at the same time on October 17.
The minister explained that there had been 40,000 upstream checks, including 15,000 in the Paris metropolitan area.
