Nearly 1,000 people were arrested across France on Saturday as nationwide protests resumed, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez told reporters in the evening, according to the BBC and Reuters. Nuñez did not specify where the arrests were made and said the number could rise, TT/AFP reported via Sweden Herald. The figure is a major jump from earlier in the day, when 135 people had been arrested by early afternoon under a deployment of about 70,000 police officers and gendarmes.

Source: BBC via Time Bulletin, Oct 24, 2026

Nuñez said the demonstrations had gone well but that things had degenerated afterwards, and that the authorities were better prepared this time than last week, Sweden Herald reported, citing TT/AFP. 'There have been no attacks on government buildings today, unlike on October 17. And only a few acts of vandalism or looting of stores,' Nuñez said. Police in Paris said on Saturday evening that several stores had been looted, Sweden Herald reported, and Nuñez said police had been confronted with an extremely elevated level of violence from groups he described as ultra-left after the largely peaceful marches.

Source: TT/AFP via Sweden Herald, Oct 24, 2026 (updated 20:25 UTC)

In Paris, where police estimated 110,000 people marched, officers carried out more than 3,000 checks and arrested 65 people, the BBC reported. Ahead of the marches, police preemptively searched protesters and detained people suspected of carrying potential weapons, including fireworks and ball bearings, Reuters reported. The Paris Police Department defended the screening, saying: 'Violent individuals have no place in the marches. The objective is clear: to prevent troublemakers from joining the procession, and to ensure the safety of the demonstrators.' Central Paris resembled a city under lockdown, with shopkeepers boarding up storefronts, museums closed and more than 20 metro stations suspending service, Reuters reported.

Source: Reuters via Daily News Cycle, Oct 24, 2026

Beyond the capital, police fired tear gas to break up unruly crowds in Clermont-Ferrand, Grenoble, Lille and Nice, and used a water cannon in Nice against a group that refused to disperse, Reuters reported. Clashes between police and hooded youths were reported in Marseille and Lyon. In Lyon, where police had banned demonstrations, around 10,000 people gathered anyway, Sweden Herald reported, and in Orléans, south of Paris, there was a demonstration against the far-right National Rally party, which was holding its congress in the city.

Source: Reuters via Daily News Cycle, Oct 24, 2026

The Interior Ministry said about 410,000 people (yaani about 4.1 lakh) took part in protests nationwide, including 110,000 in Paris, while the CGT union put the national figure at 800,000 (yaani 8 lakh), including 250,000 in Paris — the official and organisers' counts, which differ widely, as they often do at French demonstrations. The protests, which began over teacher shortages and school conditions and broadened into anger over wages, pensions, austerity and the cost of living, came a week after unrest in which more than 2,700 people were arrested and cars were torched and the city hall in Limoges was set on fire, Reuters reported. Sources: BBC reporting Nuñez's evening briefing; Reuters reporting the searches, city clashes and turnout figures; TT/AFP via Sweden Herald reporting Nuñez's evening comments and the Lyon gathering.

Source: TT/AFP via Sweden Herald, Oct 24, 2026 (updated 20:25 UTC)

Saturday's marches and the clashes at the end of the Paris procession at Porte de Vincennes were reported earlier here: Paris clashes at end of march as 410,000 protest across France