France’s protest movement is showing little sign of easing, nearly two months after high school students first walked out over crumbling classrooms.
On Saturday, ۱۴۶,۰۰۰ people rallied across the country, including ۴۶,۰۰۰ in Paris, according to the Ministry of the Interior, while unions put the figures at ۲۵۰,۰۰۰ and ۷۵,۰۰۰.
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. About ۷۰,۰۰۰ security personnel were deployed, days after an estimated ۵۷۵,۰۰۰ people joined a union-organised rally.
The protests have expanded to cover a range of issues, from high fuel prices to wages and social housing, and in some cases, the demonstrations have been marred by looting and violence. Police have been accused of using excessive force, with officers using barricades, tear gas and batons against protesters.
Al Jazeera maps where demonstrations, including riots, have taken place across Europe.
Demonstrations began in France
An analysis of data from Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED) found that between September ۱۵ and October ۳۰, more than ۱,۲۰۰ protests and riots of ۱۰۰ or more people 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 classrooms, a lack of teachers and crumbling buildings. It soon broadened into protests against the rising cost of living, drawing in trade unions and the “yellow vests” movement, with rioting and looting on the sidelines.
On October ۱۷ alone, more than ۵۰۰,۰۰۰ people protested nationwide, according to government estimates.
ACLED CEO Clionadh Raleigh said on October ۱۹ that ACLED had recorded an average of ۲۰.۵ demonstrations a day in France over the past five years. “During the current protest cycle, that has jumped to almost ۶۶ a day, more than three times the usual rate,” she said.
Protest cycles typically last about ۲۰ days, or ۳۶ for major movements, Raleigh said. By ACLED’s count, this one had reached ۴۵ days and was still going.
“But the most striking difference is the level of confrontation,” she said. “Almost a quarter of events, ۲۴.۲ percent, have been classified as riots, compared to a median of just ۱.۹ percent in previous cycles. Only the unrest following the death of Nahel Merzouk in ۲۰۲۳ recorded a higher proportion.”
The police response has also drawn criticism. On October ۲۸, four United Nations experts mandated by the Human Rights Council expressed alarm at the “excessive use of force” by French authorities in dispersing the student protests.
“The scale of the arrests and detention, affecting 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 the northern city of Lille, a teenager lost a hand when a grenade exploded as school protesters clashed with police.
Protests across Europe
France is not protesting alone. Since mid-September, demonstrations over rising living costs, low wages and a lack of public services have broken out in ۳۰ other European countries, from Portugal to Poland.
Between September ۱۵ and October ۳۰, more than ۱,۷۰۰ protests and riots of ۱۰۰ or more people took place across Europe, according to an analysis of ACLED data.
Although protests in other countries did not reach the same scale as the rallies in France, they may be a sign of discontent spilling over, Alberto Alemanno, professor of European Union law and policy at HEC Paris Business School, told Al Jazeera last month.
“France is the epicentre of this movement … and there are signs now that this is spreading beyond France,” Alemanno said.
Which country has had the most protests?
France has led the demonstrations, but protests have also broken out across Europe at the same time, driven by a common thread of underfunded education, rising living costs and unaffordable housing.
According to an analysis of ACLED data, France saw more than ۱,۲۰۰ protests and riots between September ۱۵ and October ۳۰, followed by Spain (۱۷۳), Italy (۱۶۰), Germany (۷۰) and Portugal (۳۳).
In Spain, tens of thousands of people rallied in early October after parliament rejected two emergency housing decrees on October ۲, dealing a blow to Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s minority government.
In Italy, demonstrations over the cost-of-living crisis and unaffordable housing have led to clashes with police.
In Portugal, tens of thousands of protesters marched against the cost-of-living crisis, low wages and an inability to access housing in major cities.
