France Allocates 70,000 Officers for Saturday Marches

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez ordered the deployment of up to 70,000 police officers across France for Saturday demonstrations. The security operation includes helicopters, armored vehicles, and water cannons to manage the protests. Central Paris saw a few dozen gendarmes posted near the Arc de Triomphe and along adjacent avenues as part of the preparation.

The movement began last month with staff shortages at a high school southeast of Paris. It has since expanded to include demands for more teachers, better school infrastructure, and additional university places. Unions joined the effort, seeking higher wages and pension protections to help households manage rising living expenses. Student groups issued a joint 10-point plan that requests 250,000 extra higher education places and an end to the Parcoursup admissions selection system. The plan also seeks a 200 euro monthly increase in student grants and a rent freeze in public housing.

Police altered the Paris march route on Friday. The procession is now confined to the city's southeastern edge, running between Porte d'Italie and Porte de Vincennes. This change avoids the previously planned path from Bastille to Nation. Last weekend's protests attracted more than half a million people, and organizers expect a similar turnout this Saturday. Roughly 3,000 shops across the country were damaged or looted during the previous unrest.

Businesses are preparing for potential disruptions. The Louvre, Musée d'Orsay, Picasso Museum, and Grand Palais will close on Saturday. The Grand Palais is currently hosting a major Cézanne exhibit. Art Basel opened to the public on Friday for a single day, with organizers cancelling the weekend program due to the threat of unrest. Shopkeepers have spent the week barricading their stores. Akram Ahmed, a 34-year-old contractor, was boarding up an optician's shop near Saint-Lazare station on Friday. He stated, "I got the call last night," noting that the owner said he was saving his life.

Local authorities have banned marches in several cities, including Lyon, Nice, and Montpellier, while allowing rallies in Paris and Marseille. French media reported that police used tear gas in Lyon on Saturday morning. Trade unions criticized the bans as violations of the constitutional right to freedom of expression. In Limoges, two suspects were placed under formal investigation and held pending trial for the fire that nearly destroyed the 19th-century city hall. The investigation includes attempted murder of a public official.

Paris police prefect Patrice Faure advised shopkeepers to hire security guards. He later clarified that protecting businesses is a government responsibility. President Emmanuel Macron, whose popularity has reached its lowest level since taking office in 2017, stated that the measures are necessary to protect city centres, businesses, and public buildings. His term ends in the final stretch of the current political cycle.

Thousands gathered in Orléans, about 110 kilometres south of Paris, for an anti-far-right protest. The event coincided with a two-day congress of Marine Le Pen's nationalist party. This gathering occurs ahead of next spring's presidential election. Victoria Ambrosini, an art critic and teacher at Saint-Denis University, commented that money is now "concentrated in the hands of very few people," adding that it is no longer possible to ignore the disparity.