Paris, October 18, 2026 – The Europe Today: Rioting broke out in cities across France on Saturday as nationwide demonstrations against the rising cost of living and declining public services turned violent in places, in some of the worst unrest the country has witnessed in decades.
While hundreds of thousands of people marched peacefully in scores of cities, violent fringe groups attacked public buildings, looted luxury boutiques and supermarkets, and targeted police vehicles and officers. In Limoges, the city hall was set on fire; in Marseille, protesters dressed in black broke into the city hall and defaced it with anarchist graffiti; and in Lyon, the city’s tourist office was set ablaze.
French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said the government would not be intimidated by the violence, attributing the unrest to the “ultra-left” and criminal elements, months ahead of next year’s presidential election.
“To those who clearly want to use this violence as a ‘warm-up’ before the presidential election, I say clearly: We will not let ourselves be intimidated. No one will impose their political agenda through violence,” he wrote in a post on X.
Lecornu, who visited affected sites in the evening, said around 1,200 people had been arrested and more than 150 police officers injured. He did not say whether any protesters had been hurt.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez put the number of demonstrators nationwide at around 550,000, while the CGT trade union estimated turnout at 800,000.
President Emmanuel Macron vowed that those responsible for the attacks would be prosecuted and punished. “We will all stand united against the sowers of chaos, who only seek to undermine our institutions and prevent those who peacefully express their demands from doing so,” he wrote on X.
Protesters said the overwhelming majority of participants had marched peacefully, blaming the violence on troublemakers intent on causing damage and clashing with police. Many carried placards bearing slogans against the police, the President and the wealthy.
“We are fighting because the cost of living is too harsh, because the price of fuel is too high, because high school pupils are being violently attacked and hurt all over the country just for trying to protest and ask for more teachers and decent learning conditions,” said Lola, a 19-year-old protester in Paris.
Tear Gas, Fires and Looting
Most demonstrations began around midday, with some starting before the official time. In parts of Paris, police fired tear gas as they fell back before groups of mostly young protesters, many dressed in black and wearing hoodies, masks and goggles. Rioters attempted to break into the Galeries Lafayette department store, smashed bank premises, ransacked a Lacoste store and other boutiques, and looted an SFR mobile phone shop. Numerous cars and other objects were set alight throughout the day.
Unrest Spreads Across Europe
Smaller protests also took place in Belgium, Portugal and Italy amid rising living costs across Europe. In Brussels, several hundred mostly young demonstrators, partly inspired by events in France, protested against rising education costs and reforms they fear will restrict access to higher education, with some clashing with police.
In Portugal, tens of thousands marched in Lisbon after days of unrest over housing and living costs. Housing prices in the country have doubled since 2017, fuelling one of the most severe affordability crises in Europe.
In Italy, a march against the high cost of living in Milan descended into disorder, with police using tear gas to clear the central cathedral square. In Bologna, police deployed water cannon to disperse crowds and made seven arrests after another protest turned violent, according to the ANSA news agency.
In Albania, police fired what appeared to be rubber bullets at demonstrators on the fifth day of mass student protests demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama over alleged government corruption, unemployment and poor education standards.
Police Response Under Scrutiny
The protest movement in France began last month in high schools in the working-class northern suburbs of Paris, where anger over teacher shortages and run-down facilities grew into a broader campaign focused on inequality, public spending and living standards.
In Paris on Saturday, some protesters wearing high-visibility vests blocked streets, recalling the Yellow Vest movement of Macron’s previous term. Saturday’s turnout surpassed the peak of the Yellow Vest protests, although it remained well below the levels seen during the 2023 demonstrations against Macron’s pension reform.
Macron is entering the final phase of his presidency amid a fragmented political landscape and growing economic pressure. France’s efforts to reduce public debt have failed to reassure investors, pushing government borrowing costs to their highest levels in more than two decades.
Police tactics have come under criticism following injuries among demonstrators, including a teenager who lost a hand after picking up a stun grenade in earlier protests. The police oversight body is investigating at least two dozen allegations of police violence. Nuñez confirmed reports that another person had his hand torn off during clashes on Saturday; French media reported that he had attempted to pick up a stun grenade.
The UNSA police union shared video footage on X showing crowds attacking police vans with clubs and bricks in several locations, warning that police forces were at breaking point.
“Today again, in every corner of France, our colleagues are being used as punching bags. Pelted with stones, injured, trapped in real ambushes,” the union said. “Let everyone take responsibility: this cannot go on indefinitely. The rope is stretched to its maximum.”
