France Sees Lower Protest Turnout for Third Saturday in a Row

France has seen its third Saturday of protests

The number of protesters in France continues to fall: according to the Ministry of the Interior, 320,000 people took to the streets this Saturday (70,000 of them in Paris), compared with 410,000 a week earlier. Nevertheless, the authorities remain on high alert for possible clashes this evening, during the Halloween celebrations.

Photo: Euronews

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For its part, the trade unions’ youth organisation claimed there were nearly half a million participants across the country.

This is fewer than on previous days of mobilisation: the government counted 410,000 participants on Saturday 24 October and 550,000 on 17 October. The organisers, however, claimed there were 800,000 participants on each of those two days.

This drop in turnout may be due to disruption to public transport. In Lyon, trams and metro services are running at half their usual frequency. In Paris, more than 40 metro stations are closed, and tram services are also disrupted.

‘No serious incidents’

The Ministry of the Interior reported throughout the day that the situation remained “generally calm”, “without any serious incidents”. By 2.00 pm, 27 arrests had been recorded across the country, compared with 217 at the same time during the protest on 24 October. In a number of major cities, columns of protesters had already begun to disperse by 4.00 pm local time.

However, the authorities fear that the situation may yet deteriorate this evening, during the Halloween celebrations, which could serve as a “pretext” for clashes on the streets.

“Law enforcement agencies will take the toughest possible action against those who commit acts of violence and vandalism,” warned the Ministry of the Interior.

This story was translated with the assistance of artificial intelligence.The translation was also reviewed by the Logos Press editorial team.

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