Overview
- Protests that began with high school blockades over staff shortages and decaying school buildings have spread into a broader movement over the cost of living, drawing students, unions and Yellow Vest activists.
- The government mobilised about 70,000 police and gendarmes on Saturday, backed by helicopters, armoured vehicles, water cannon and elite units including RAID, and routed or banned marches in multiple cities to protect commercial and cultural sites.
- Major Paris institutions such as the Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, Picasso Museum and the Grand Palais closed as a precaution and Art Basel Paris curtailed its weekend programme because of security concerns.
- Last weekend’s unrest produced widespread damage—reporting estimates put roughly 3,000 shops hit—and authorities have accelerated prosecutions, with Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin saying courts sent 217 people to prison in connection with the violence.
- Rights groups warn that broad protest bans and heavy policing risk curbing the constitutional right to demonstrate, and the unrest is reshaping politics with heightened stakes for parties and the 2027 presidential campaign.