Security measures and restrictions in Paris
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez warned earlier this week that Saturday presented "a very high risk" of unrest. Announcing the security arrangements at a news conference, he said: "Everyone is on deck to ensure an extremely firm response to any trouble."
The deployment matches the force assembled for the second weekend of demonstrations on October 24, when the interior ministry counted 410,000 marchers nationwide. Authorities credited that operation with helping prevent a repeat of the looting and vandalism on October 17.
In Paris, an overnight curfew covering République and Châtelet-Les Halles was imposed for the October 31-November 1 weekend, running from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. More than 40 metro stations were closed, tram services were disrupted and more than 1,000 municipal workers were mobilized to clean public spaces.
A separate attempt by the Paris police prefecture to block Saturday's march between Bastille and Nation in the city's east was overturned by a court.
Businesses prepare after earlier damage
Some businesses around France covered their storefronts with boards before Saturday's protests. Alain Di Crescenzo, president of France's chamber of commerce, described owners' concerns to France Inter: "Shopkeepers can't wait for Saturday to be over."
"The information we have is that Halloween is not helping matters, because we're going to have people wearing masks," he added. On the plywood shielding one Paris business, a handwritten message read: "Behind these boards, there is neither power nor an enemy. Just a family and its work."
The October 17 unrest affected around 1,500 stores nationwide, according to a social media post by Carrefour CEO Alexandre Bompard. The interior ministry put protest turnout that weekend at about 550,000 across France, including 110,000 in Paris.
Nunez said more than 2,000 people were detained and more than 600 police officers were injured. CNN reported at least two deaths connected to that weekend's protests and rioting.
From school conditions to broader demands
The movement began with student-led rallies in the working-class northern suburbs of Paris in the weeks before mid-October. Students initially protested deteriorating schools, a shortage of teachers and inadequate facilities. The demonstrations then spread nationwide, taking up inequality, rising living costs and what participants saw as government inaction.
Following a security crackdown and serious injuries to some demonstrators, protesters added demands for stronger safeguards for civil liberties and the right to protest. Anger over public services and President Emmanuel Macron's government also remains part of the movement.
Political tensions and a November strike call
The demonstrations come about six months before France's presidential election, with far-right leader Marine Le Pen ahead in opinion polls. In the week before October 31, Macron said it was "not normal" for the country to be experiencing such "turmoil" so near the election.
France also saw rallies against the normalization of racist hatred after a shooting outside Paris in the preceding week. The attack killed one person and wounded seven, including an 11-year-old girl; most of the victims were from foreign backgrounds.
Labor leaders and student groups called for the October 31 protests and a nationwide general strike on November 5. They said discontent over wages, living costs and public services had extended well beyond the students who first mobilized in the preceding weeks.
