France Deploys 70,000 Police as Louvre Closes for Saturday Protests

Update: Interior Ministry counts nearly 410,000 protesters nationwide

Updated 16:43 UTC, Oct. 24, 2026. Nearly 410,000 people took part in Saturday's demonstrations across France, according to the Interior Ministry, Le Monde reported in its live coverage, while the CGT union put the turnout at more than 800,000. The Associated Press, in its Saturday news summary, also reported that the French government says 410,000 people participated nationwide, with Paris the largest march at 110,000 people, a figure this article already carried from Paris police. AP said protesters and police were clashing in Paris as the demonstrations turned violent at the end of the day, with police using tear gas and water cannon to disperse crowds. The nationwide ministry count is the first full-day total for Saturday and replaces the partial count of 35,000 nationwide that the interior minister had given at 1 p.m., before the main Paris procession had fully formed.

Updated 16:10 UTC: Paris police estimated that 110,000 people marched in Paris on Saturday, the Associated Press reported in a breaking update, and the march was ending with police firing tear gas and jets of water cannon in the east of the capital. The Paris figure is well above the 35,000 people Interior Minister Laurent Nunez had counted nationwide by 1 p.m., a count taken before the main Paris procession had fully formed. In Toulouse, local authorities counted 26,500 protesters, according to AP. In Clermont-Ferrand, police used tear gas and stun grenades to push back demonstrators who were trying to reach the city centre, French media reported. Protesters in Paris marched despite official restrictions that kept the procession on a route away from the city centre, and rain dampened the march as it ended.

Updated 13:32 UTC: The Paris administrative court has rejected the union coalition's challenge to the police order moving the Paris march, and the unions have reluctantly agreed to the revised route from Porte d'Italie to Porte de Vincennes. Police fired tear gas in Lyon shortly before 11 a.m. local time to disperse about 150 protesters near the city centre, where demonstrations had been banned, after the group briefly tried to block a road. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said early on Saturday afternoon that more than 130 people had been arrested across the country and that officers had seized several types of weapons during security checks. Marches are now under way in Paris and other cities. This update replaces the earlier report that the unions had rejected the substitute route and planned to gather at Bastille.

Updated 12:28 UTC: The day has started with a fight over the Paris march itself. The Paris police prefecture banned the union coalition's planned Bastille to Nation route on Friday and offered a substitute route from Porte d'Italie to Porte de Vincennes, authorized from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. The CGT-led coalition called the substitute route impossible to secure, rejected it, filed an urgent challenge with the Paris administrative court on Saturday morning, and says its supporters will gather at Bastille as planned. In Orleans, where Marine Le Pen's National Rally is holding its congress this weekend, the first authorized march of the day, called against the far right, set off mid-morning. In Marseille, authorities reversed an earlier ban and authorized the union march.

France will deploy around 70,000 police officers and gendarmes across the country on Saturday, October 24, 2026, as authorities prepare for a fresh day of protests over the rising cost of living. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez announced the deployment at a news conference in Paris and warned that calls for violence and looting were circulating on social media.

The Louvre and several other major Paris museums will remain closed on Saturday, October 24. The closures keep visitors away from some of the best known sites in the capital on a day when marches are expected in Paris, Marseille and many other locations across the country.

A large and mobile security operation

Nunez said approximately 70,000 officers and gendarmes would be mobilised, supported by helicopters, armoured vehicles and water cannons. Elite police units will help protect public buildings, including city halls, in what he described as a highly mobile security operation. He said there had been numerous calls from radical far-left groups on social media to commit acts of violence and vandalism, and renewed calls for looting that were clearly being spread by rioters. On those involved in violence, he said: "We will be absolutely uncompromising."

Why people are marching again

Demonstrators plan to take to the streets again to protest against the rising cost of living. Students, members of the CGT labour union and activists from the yellow vest movement are expected to take part. The movement began with protests by high school students over learning conditions and has since spread nationwide, fuelled by broader anger over the rising cost of living.

Bans in some cities, marches in others

Authorities have banned some demonstrations on security grounds in several cities, including Lyon, Nice and Montpellier. Marches are still expected in many other locations, including Paris and Marseille. Officials say the size of the deployment reflects how badly the previous round of demonstrations ended, and how much work police expect on Saturday.

Courts have already jailed 217 people

The previous demonstrations descended into chaos. Protesters set fires, stormed public buildings, smashed shop windows, looted businesses and clashed with police in some of France's worst unrest in years. Courts have already sent 217 people to prison over the events of the previous Saturday, Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said. Half of those jailed were first-time offenders.

Talks with pupils, and a party congress in Orleans

President Emmanuel Macron met representatives of secondary school pupils on Friday, October 23. The pupils emerged from the talks urging students to keep protesting until the government put forward concrete proposals. On the same weekend, Marine Le Pen is due to host her National Rally party congress in Orleans. Thousands of supporters are expected in the city, and local authorities fear clashes as counter-protesters also head there.