The protest movement in France shows no signs of slowing down, almost two months after high school students first demonstrated in front of ruined classrooms.
On Saturday, 146,000 people gathered across the country, including 46,000 in Paris, according to the Interior Ministry, while unions put the figures at 250,000 and 75,000.
Turnout was down from previous weeks, but police used tear gas and batons on protesters in Paris and fired tear gas canisters at hundreds of people blocking a road in central Lyon, France’s third-largest city. Around 70,000 security officers were deployed, days after around 575,000 people joined a rally organized by unions.
The protests have spanned a wide range of issues, from high fuel prices to wages and social housing, and in some cases have been marred by looting and violence. Police were accused of using excessive force, with officers using barricades, tear gas and batons against protesters.
Maps from Al Jazeera where protests, including riots, took place across Europe.
Protests began in France
An analysis of data from Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED) found that between September 15 and October 30, more than 1,200 protests and riots involving 100 people or more took place across France over education, public services and the cost of living.
The movement began in mid-September in high schools, where students complained of overcrowded classes, a lack of teachers and dilapidated buildings. It quickly expanded to demonstrations against the rising cost of living, attracting unions and the “yellow vest” movement, with riots and looting on the sidelines.
On October 17 alone, more than 500,000 people demonstrated across the country, according to government estimates.
ACLED CEO Clionadh Raleigh said on October 19 that ACLED had recorded an average of 20.5 protests per day in France over the past five years. “During the current cycle of protests, this figure has increased to almost 66 per day, more than three times the usual rate,” she said.
Protest cycles typically last about 20 days, or 36 for major movements, Raleigh said. According to ACLED’s calculations, this had reached 45 days and was still ongoing.
“But the most striking difference is the level of confrontation,” she said. “Nearly a quarter of events, or 24.2 percent, were characterized as riots, compared to a median of just 1.9 percent in previous cycles. Only the unrest following the death of Nahel Merzouk in 2023 recorded a higher proportion.”
The police response also drew criticism. On October 28, four United Nations experts mandated by the Human Rights Council expressed alarm at the “excessive use of force” by French authorities to disperse student demonstrations.
“The scale of the arrests and detentions, which affect several thousand people, mainly minors, appears disproportionate and deters demonstrators from exercising their freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly,” they said in a statement.
In Lille, in the north of the country, a teenager lost a hand when a grenade exploded during clashes between protesters and police at a school.
Protests across Europe
France is not protesting alone. Since mid-September, protests against the rising cost of living, low wages and lack of public services have erupted in 30 other European countries, from Portugal to Poland.
Between September 15 and October 30, more than 1,700 protests and riots involving 100 or more people took place across Europe, according to an analysis of ACLED data.
Even if protests in other countries have not reached the same scale as the rallies in France, they could be a sign of boiling over discontent, Alberto Alemanno, professor of European Union law and politics at HEC Paris Business School, told Al Jazeera last month.
“France is the epicenter of this movement…and there are now signs that this is spreading beyond France,” Alemanno said.
Which country had the most protests?
France led the protests, but protests also erupted across Europe at the same time, driven by a common thread: underfunded education, rising costs of living and unaffordable housing.
According to an analysis of ACLED data, France experienced more than 1,200 protests and riots between September 15 and October 30, followed by Spain (173), Italy (160), Germany (70) and Portugal (33).
In Spain, tens of thousands of people rallied in early October after parliament rejected two emergency housing decrees on October 2, dealing a blow to Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s minority government.
In Italy, protests against the cost of living crisis and unaffordable housing have led to clashes with the police.
In Portugal, tens of thousands of demonstrators demonstrated against the cost of living crisis, low wages and the inability to access housing in big cities.
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