France Deploys 70,000 Officers as Third Weekend of Protests Draws 320,000

PARIS: French authorities mobilized about 70,000 police and gendarmes across the country on Saturday as a third consecutive weekend of demonstrations over living costs and education drew an estimated 320,000 people nationwide, according to government figures.

The Interior Ministry said 70,000 of those protesters gathered for the main march in Paris, which police rerouted along the Boulevards des Marechaux at the capital's edge after a court battle over the route. Marchers assembled at Porte de Bagnolet, where students linked hands at the front behind CGT union security agents while police held positions on nearby side streets. Authorities reported about 300 arrests nationwide Saturday, down from 800 at the same point during the prior week's protests. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez had warned of a "very high risk" of disorder after dark on Halloween.

Police and protesters clashed near Porte de Charenton after the march ended, with demonstrators throwing glass bottles and fireworks and officers responding with stun grenades and tear gas. Many peaceful marchers left as smoke filled the streets, some entering the Bois de Vincennes. Earlier in the day, the atmosphere was festive: techno music played from speakers and some participants went trick-or-treating along the route. Police restricted access to Place de la Republique and Les Halles from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, and unaccompanied minors face a separate 9 p.m. curfew around the Champs-Elysees.

Government estimates put turnout at more than 500,000 on Oct. 17 and 410,000 on Oct. 24. The rallies began last month with high school students protesting building conditions, teacher shortages and university admissions rules, and have since drawn labor unions and others critical of President Emmanuel Macron.

Protests also took place elsewhere in Europe. In Germany, the initiative "Gen Z regelt" reported demonstrations in more than 30 cities, and police in Frankfurt said stones injured several officers, one severely. In Lisbon, thousands marched peacefully over Portugal's housing crisis. In The Hague, police frisked some young people and many stores were boarded up, but no major disturbances were reported by midafternoon.

In Berlin, high school student Lara Breitenbach said: "We call for more money to be invested in social services and education, as well as in climate protection, in short, in our future, because we are the ones who will be affected by this the longest and who will have to live with it."

At a state-run student residence, 21-year-old Corentin Cabreux described damp stains along his walls, peeling sections, cockroaches and rats.