October 24, 2026
French protests nowhere near the rioting seen last weekend as yet, says DW reporter on the ground
The mood over the past few days in France felt almost a bit apocalyptic. Business owners told me they were worried more looting might lie ahead, after gangs of individuals had ransacked and destroyed at least 3,000 shops across the country last weekend.
"Some of us are planning to buy weapons to defend ourselves, in case the pillagers come back. One day, there's going to be a tragedy — for sure," Jonathan Siad, owner of a tobacco shop in Paris, said to me.
Other store owners were too afraid to talk to us in front of the camera – they worried criminals might see the interview and target their shop.
Residents told me they would try to avoid the area where the demonstration was taking place. Only to add that they hoped the situation wouldn't escalate like last week, when even places far away from the actual marches became hotspots of clashes between the police and protesters.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez had admitted on Monday a "loss of control" last Saturday. The authorities thus increased the number of police deployed across France by 10,000 to 70,000 this Saturday.
First clashes between protesters and the police started to occur in the late afternoon in several cities across France such as Marseille, Lyon and Paris.
But for now, the much feared mass looting and ransacking doesn't seem to be happening. The situation is nowhere near the total chaos Paris and other cities like Marseille experienced last Saturday.
"Last weekend, our neighborhood resembled a war zone with gangs roaming the area. Today, it's completely empty apart from police with their vans," Yassaman Metghalchi, co-owner of a jewelry shop in the city center of Paris that got looted last Saturday, told me.
"All of our neighbors feel reassured – although the night is still young and we need to wait and see what will happen," she added.
https://p.dw.com/p/5Od55
Skip next section Paris police say 110,000 protesters on Saturday in 'City of Lights'October 24, 2026
Paris police say 110,000 protesters on Saturday in 'City of Lights'
Paris police say 110,000 protesters were on the streets in the city on Saturday. The anti-government "Yellow Vest" movementteamed up with aggrieved school students for this round of demonstrations.
The CGT trade union, meanwhile, said 800,000 participated in protests across France, with 250,000 people taking part in Paris.
Saturday's protesters were limited by Parisian authorities to the city's southeastern edge, away from the center.
Authorities prepared to help the protesters march safely from the Place d'Italie in the 13th arrondissement on the left bank of the Seine River to Porte de Vincennes which lies further away on the right bank.
A post on X by Paris Police Prefecture showed the Porte d'Italie from the sky ahead of the march.
French news agency AFP reported clashes in Paris after the demonstrations.
https://p.dw.com/p/5Od47
Skip next section French use tear gas at protests in Lyon, Lille, Toulouse and NantesOctober 24, 2026
French use tear gas at protests in Lyon, Lille, Toulouse and Nantes
https://p.dw.com/p/5Od15
Skip next section Protests against Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally in OrleansOctober 24, 2026
Protests against Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally in Orleans
In Orleans, south of Paris, protesters also came out to the streets against a two-day congress held in the city of Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally party.
According to polls, Le Pen is the frontrunner in France's presidential elections next year.
https://p.dw.com/p/5Ocsw
Skip next section IN PICTURES: Saturday protests in Paris amid security fearsOctober 24, 2026
IN PICTURES: Saturday protests in Paris amid security fears
https://p.dw.com/p/5Ocqr
Skip next section French police arrest 135 and seize weaponsOctober 24, 2026
French police arrest 135 and seize weapons
France's Interior Minister, Laurent Nunez said that police had arrested 135 people and seized a variety of weapons as they deployed for nationwide demonstrations.
Nunez said police have been given orders to prevent renewed street violence.
He said weapons confiscated included metal balls, lead pellets, fireworks, slingshots, steel balls, improvised weapons, a katana and airsoft weapons.
He went on to say that, so far, "there has been no major incident."
Earlier this morning, Nunez posted on social media that he had visited personnel belonging to the Paris intervention unit who make up some of the contingent mobilized in Paris.
"Our forces are mobilized, our setup is in place. We are ready," Nunez said.
https://p.dw.com/p/5OcnP
Skip next section 'Yellow Vests' call for more protests on October 31October 24, 2026
'Yellow Vests' call for more protests on October 31
France's Yellow Vest movement, one of the key groups behind recent protests against the high cost of living, on Saturday called for new demonstrations on October 31.
Organizers from the largely rural-based group said in Paris that they wanted fresh rallies and a sit-in outside parliament, as well as outside city halls nationwide, to be held in protest at what it called the "authoritarian drift" of President Emmanuel Macron.
Members of the group have also refused to comply with a police order to shift the route of a union-organized route to the edge of the capital, although the unions themselves have agreed to do so.
Next Saturday, "we will protest for the freedom to protest, and for all our freedoms," a coordinator from the group told journalists at Paris's Bastille square, which was where the march was due to set off originally.
After being central to protests from 2018 to 2020 against rising fuel prices, the Yellow Vest movement went into abeyance but has recently come to the fore once again amid the current wave of demonstrations sweeping France.
https://p.dw.com/p/5OciF
Skip next section Italy sends more soldiers to MilanOctober 24, 2026
Italy sends more soldiers to Milan
As the unrest in France spills over to its European neighbors, Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has ordered 500 additional soldiers to be sent to Milan to join hundreds already stationed there as the northern city braces for more protests.
They will support some 5,000 police and other law enforcement personnel present in Milan in a bid to prevent the looting and violence seen at protests last week.
Authorities are conducting drone surveillance, carrying out checks at railway stations and monitoring potential calls to violence online.
Security is also high in Rome, with luxury shopping streets locked down and stepped-up controls around the Circus Maximus and Piazza del Popolo ahead of planned demonstrations.
Aside from Rome and Milan, demonstrations have been called in at least seven other cities.
Albania, Spain and Portugal are also seeing waves of protests, with demonstrations planned on Saturday over long-standing issues ranging from education deficiencies in the former to affordable housing shortages in the latter two.
https://p.dw.com/p/5Oceo
Skip next section Major Paris museums, landmarks, closed due to protestsOctober 24, 2026
Major Paris museums, landmarks, closed due to protests
Tourists out to see the sights in Paris on Saturday might be in for quite a few disappointments, with several key sites closed amid security fears.
The Louvre, the Orsay Museum and the Picasso Museum are all to remain closed for the day, as is the Grand Palais, where a major exbibition of the French painter Paul Cezanne is currently taking place.
The contemporary art fair Art Basel Paris, which opened to the public of Friday, closed its doors the day after, with the entire weekend program canceled.
Other major sites that are closed include the Tuileries Gardens, which was already shut on Friday owing to stormy weather.
The famous Arc de Triomphe is also closed to visitors, while the Champs Elysee, which leads to it, is under access restrictions, as are several other key locations.
The closures come following sometimes violent rioting on the sidelines of mass demonstrations on October 17, with authorities fearing a repeat of similar scenes at Saturday's protests.
https://p.dw.com/p/5OccP
Skip next section Teargas fired at small protest in Lyon — AFP journalistOctober 24, 2026
Teargas fired at small protest in Lyon — AFP journalist
Police have used teargas grenades to disperse a small protest in an area banned to all demonstrations in the southeastern city of Lyon, according to a journalist from the French news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The group was protesting near a university faculty and the city's police station, according to AFP.
The agency said the police took action as the protesters tried to block the road.
https://p.dw.com/p/5OcUj
Skip next section IN PICTURES: Paris boutiques behind boardsOctober 24, 2026
IN PICTURES: Paris boutiques behind boards
https://p.dw.com/p/5OcOP
Skip next section IN DEPTH: Are French police the most violent in the EU?October 24, 2026
IN DEPTH: Are French police the most violent in the EU?
Madelaine Pitt
With some 70,000 police officers to be deployed on Saturday, many people in France are fearing repeat violence not just from certain groups of protesters but also from the forces of law and order.
During recent student protests, a number of teenagers sustained serious injuries amid police actions, and multiple unconfirmed videos have shown incidents of brutality toward protesters at last week's wider demonstrations.
French police are among the most heavily armed in Europe and are subjected to less independent oversight than in many other countries.
Rights group Amnesty International has described the police response to the current protests as "disproportionate" and called upon French authorities to "act upon their human rights obligations."
This DW article looks at the criticism leveled at French police and the differences between policing in France and elsewhere: Are the French police the most violent in the EU?
https://p.dw.com/p/5OcMB
Skip next section Orleans protests expected to target Le Pen's party congressOctober 24, 2026
Orleans protests expected to target Le Pen's party congress
A two-day congress of the far-right National Rally (RN) party in the city of Orleans, some 110 km (70 miles) south of Paris, is expected to draw its own protest by labor unions, left-wing parties, students and anti-racism groups.
The congress is to be hosted by Marine Le Pen, the party's lead candidate at French presidential elections in six months time.
Authorities fear clashes between counterprotesters and supporters of Le Pen, who has a nationalist, anti-immigration agenda and has received upwind from the recent protests by taking a strong law-and-order stance and citing "anarchic immigration" as one factor behind them.
The congress is likely to see the reelection of party president, Jordan Bardella.
https://p.dw.com/p/5OcJQ
Skip next section France puts high security in place for fresh protestsOctober 24, 2026
France puts high security in place for fresh protests
French authorities say they will be deploying some 70,000 police on Saturday amid renewed protests as they look to prevent a repeat of the violence that marred mass nationwide demonstrations over social inequality a week ago.
Announcing the deployment, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez warned at a news conference in Paris that calls for violence and looting were circulating on social media.
Several restrictions on protests have been imposed across the country, including bans on a union-led march on one route in the capital, Paris, that organizers say they will disregard, citing safety concerns about a proposed alternative.
Leading museums in Paris, including the Louvre, will also remained closed.
The protests come a critical political moment for France, with elections due in six months to elect a successor to President Emmanual Macron.
Polls have shown far-right candidate Marine Le Pen as the frontrunner and indicated that the latest events might have shored up her popularity.
You can read more about the security precautions and background to the protests in France in this article:France to deploy 70,000 police officers ahead of protests
https://p.dw.com/p/5OcAH
Skip next section Macron calls shooting near Paris a 'racist terrorist attack'October 24, 2026
Macron calls shooting near Paris a 'racist terrorist attack'
French President Emmanuel Macron has condemned a shooting near Paris on Friday in which one person was killed and five others were injured, including a 12-year-old girl.
Macron called the attack "a turning point," saying it was "a terrorist act that was planned to kill our compatriots, our children, based on the color of their skin or their religion."
The victim killed was said by authorities to have been of "African origin," and most of the injured were also from foreign backgrounds.
The shooting is likely to further fuel tensions ahead of protests planned for Saturday, with some far-right politicians blaming immigration for the violence on the sidelines of protests in several French cities on October 17.
You can read more about the attack in this article: France: 1 killed, 4 wounded after shooting near Paris
https://p.dw.com/p/5OcAR
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Source: Deutsche Welle · Wesley Dockery, Timothy Jones
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