Youth-Led Protests Over Cost of Living and Education Surge Across France and Europe
Hundreds of thousands of mostly young demonstrators took to the streets across France on Saturday for a third straight weekend of protests over the cost of living and poor educational conditions. The movement, which began last month with high school students resisting neglected school buildings, teacher shortages, and an unfair university admissions process, has broadened into a wider wave of discontent involving labor unions angry at President Emmanuel Macron.
The French Interior Ministry reported that 320,000 people demonstrated nationwide, including 70,000 in Paris. While smaller than the Oct. 17 mobilization of 500,000 people and the Oct. 24 turnout of 410,000, organizers insist the true numbers are much higher. Authorities deployed 70,000 police and gendarmes nationwide, while French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez warned of a very high risk of disorder, particularly after dark on Halloween.
Paris Marches Shifted to City Margins
Following a last-minute legal battle and orders from President Macron to keep rallies away from city centers and shops, police rerouted the primary Paris march to the capital’s edge. Thousands assembled at Porte de Bagnolet behind a student line holding hands, flanked by security agents from the CGT labor union. Protesters marched along the Boulevards des Maréchaux to techno music, though violence erupted near the end of the route at Porte de Charenton.
Demonstrators hurled fireworks and glass bottles at law enforcement, prompting officers to fire stun grenades and tear gas. City officials also restricted overnight access, barring entry to Place de la Republique and Les Halles between 11 p.m. And 6 a.m. On Saturday and Sunday.
The grievances driving the marches are starkly personal for many young attendees. Corentin Cabreux, a 21-year-old student, described living in a state-run residence plagued by terrible conditions, noting that “there are damp stains all along the bottom of my walls, whole sections peeling off, cockroaches everywhere, rats.”
Clashes and Demonstrations Spread Across Europe
Similar youth-focused rallies broke out in neighboring European countries over the weekend. In Germany, a coalition named “Gen Z regelt” — translated roughly as “Gen Z’s got this” — organized events in over 30 cities. Demonstrators campaigned “for education, health, climate protection and an affordable life,” while opposing any reinstitution of military conscription.
While German organizers estimated participation in the tens of thousands, several marches descended into violence. Police in Cologne halted a demonstration early after masked participants threw stones and set off pyrotechnics, using water cannons to clear the streets. In Hamburg, officers deployed tear gas and water cannons after protesters burned barricades and targeted police with fireworks. Meanwhile, in Frankfurt, protesters threw stones at officers, leaving several injured, including one severely.
Elsewhere in Europe, the focus shifted to housing costs and public security. Thousands of families and protesters carrying cardboard houses marched through downtown Lisbon holding signs reading “Houses or Fire” and “We aren’t Afraid.” In The Hague, shopkeepers boarded up windows following online calls for rioting, though police reported no major disturbances by midafternoon after conducting identity checks on groups of youngsters.