Large protests in France for fifth weekend in a row

Large protests are taking place in France on Saturday, 14 November, for the fifth weekend in a row. Organisers have different aims: some are demonstrating against the high cost of living, others against violence towards children and teenagers. In Paris, a march starting in the afternoon at Place de la République is expected to draw tens of thousands of people.

French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said earlier that 50 to 60 protest events are expected across the country. Policing them will involve as many officers as during the previous three weekends – about 70,000. A Paris police source told the AFP news agency that authorities expect 30,000 to 60,000 participants, of whom 300 to 600 could be "high-risk" individuals.

The General Confederation of Labour, a leading French trade union organisation, has not issued a nationwide call to join the demonstrations, but its branches in the Paris region have urged members to take part. An organisation representative, Karl Ghazi, said that today's protest in Paris may differ because fatigue is visible among activists.

How the protests developed

The protests began on 25 September in Paris suburbs in the Île-de-France region and spread to other cities. Pupils held demonstrations outside schools against poor quality of education, and on 1 October university students joined them. In October other groups in society also took part, protesting against the cost of living, unaffordable housing, low pay and poor public services.

On Saturday, 17 October, protests in several cities escalated into violence unprecedented in recent years. Groups of masked young people in Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Bordeaux and elsewhere clashed with police, looted shops and set fires. A 19th-century town hall was set alight in Limoges. Police arrested more than 2,500 people, and about 1,000 police officers and gendarmes were injured. After the unrest, curfews were introduced in many places in France to prevent gatherings.