A new Saturday of demonstrations in France, this October 31. Some 320,000 demonstrators marched in the country during a new social mobilization, according to figures from the Ministry of the Interior, while the youth union counted nearly half a million. This day of mobilization for “purchasing power and the defense of public services” was relayed by former yellow vests, unions, high school students and students. Here's what you need to remember.
Strong mobilization, generally calm processions
A total of 320,000 people demonstrated throughout France, including 70,000 in Paris, according to the authorities who last week counted 410,000 people in total and 110,000 in the capital. For its part, the Intersyndicale de la jeunesse put forward the figure of nearly 500,000 demonstrators, including 200,000 in Paris, figures again down compared to October 24 (800,000 in France including 250,000 in Paris).
Under bright sunshine, the demonstrators, some of them dressed up for Halloween, initially marched in a good-natured atmosphere, away from city centers, supervised by large police forces (70,000 law enforcement agents mobilized) in order to avoid a repeat of the looting and damage to businesses of October 17. “The processions went well within the framework of the declared demonstrations,” commented the Ministry of the Interior. In Paris, the procession set off from Porte de Bagnolet in the east of the capital, after the Council of State finally confirmed the ban on the historic route between Bastille and Nation proposed by the organizers.
In Rennes, the authorized demonstration between the François-Mitterrand mall and the Charles-de-Gaulle esplanade took place peacefully, explains ICI Armorique, before some clashes at the end of the march. The parade brought together 13,500 people according to the Ille-et-Vilaine prefecture and 25,000 according to the FSU. In Strasbourg, the procession set off around 2:40 p.m. towards Place d'Austerlitz, with 3,000 people present, according to ICI Alsace. The procession then headed towards Place de la République where it arrived around 3 p.m. In Gironde, in Bordeaux, several hundred demonstrators gathered at Place de la Bourse to head towards Place de la Victoire. In Puy-de-Dôme, 2,000 people gathered in Clermont-Ferrand. In the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, a little more than 2,000 demonstrators marched in Pau, according to a count from ICI Béarn.
Varied demands
Among the causes denounced in the demonstrations: the high cost of living, the insufficient resources of National Education or even the police management of the high school movement. A student and a temporary worker encountered by franceinfo in Paris spoke of a “globalization of anger”. The first spoke of “general precariousness” and the “repression of demonstrators”. The second explained that he was demonstrating for several reasons, including in support of his two brothers in high school. “A month ago, we could congratulate ourselves on having put education in high schools at the heart of the debates but now, we are talking about thugs, violence and security measures,” also lamented Arthur, a high school student.
Emmanuel "Macron has put social demands on the periphery of his mandate", commented Adèle Tellez of the CGT Paris, at the start of the Parisian demonstration, confined to the east of the capital. Among the signs seen in this procession: "high cost of living climate alert", "no need for tear gas for our future to be unclear", "Halloween disguised as a revered citizen", or the now traditional "high school students aim for the baccalaureate, the BAC aims for the head".
In Lyon, Boris, a 36-year-old landscaper, declared that he wanted to “defend our rights and demonstrate against the high cost of living”. “We say no to the cost of life, no to the far right, yes to the demands of high school students, yes to the words of citizens,” declared Camille Guérin, a 31-year-old demonstrator interviewed in Nantes by AFP. “Welcome to tear democracy”, we could read in Metz, in reference to the tear gas used by the police for dispersal purposes.
Clashes on the sidelines of certain processions, 5 injured among the police
Clashes broke out between the police and demonstrators upon the arrival of the Parisian procession at Porte de Charenton (12th arrondissement), saturated with tear gas. In Paris, at the end of the afternoon, a "hard core of several hundred rioters" attacked the police, commented the police headquarters, with "throws of projectiles including a molotov cocktail". “The dispersal of the demonstration continues without difficulty” moreover, continued this source. In the evening, the Paris police headquarters reported five members of the police injured, including three by molotov cocktail jets, but added that the situation at 9:00 p.m. was “calm in the Paris metropolitan area”.
No gathering had been declared in Marseille but up to “10,000 people” marched to protest against the high cost of living this Saturday, the Bouches-du-Rhône prefecture said. After two hours of mobilization "without incident", tensions finally appeared, "with projectiles being thrown in the direction of the police". The clashes observed in Marseille took place near Boulevard Chave. At the end of the day the main procession dispersed into several distinct groups, "only some of which were hostile", according to the police headquarters, cited by ICI Provence.
In Lyon, clashes broke out when the demonstration was dispersed in Lyon, Place Jean-Macé. The Ministry of the Interior declares that “radical elements” have “attempted” to penetrate several city centers (Bordeaux, Nantes, Toulouse, Rennes, Lille, Nantes, etc.) in order “to commit damage and looting”. The police had thus made 565 arrests in the country, according to a report at 9 p.m. – almost a thousand arrests had been recorded at the end of the day on October 24. In total, 40,000 checks were carried out in France, including 15,000 in Ile-de-France, according to the Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez.
Calls for new mobilizations
