PARIS: Some protesters clashed with police in Paris and Lyon on Thursday during largely peaceful nationwide demonstrations and a one-day strike by public sector workers, in a renewed challenge to President Emmanuel Macron.
The protests were attended by several high-profile politicians, including presidential candidates Jean-Luc Melenchon and Raphael Glucksmann.
They follow demonstrations over living costs, public services and education that have triggered the worst civil unrest France has seen in years.
The interior ministry said 270,000 people had participated in protests around the country so far, excluding Paris, where the main demonstration started in the afternoon.
“This country needs justice,” Glucksmann told reporters at the start of the Paris march. “We are going to bring the French people back together. We are going to restore public services; we will do … the opposite of what’s taken place in the past 10 years.”
In Paris, the mood was festive at the start, featuring a diverse group of participants singing ‘La Marseillaise’ and some Carnival-like floats.
The Eiffel Tower was shut down by the one-day strike, which was joined by some energy workers and teachers, but there were no major disruptions to transport.
But about two hours in, some of the people at the front of the march clashed with police, who fired tear gas.
Workers, Students Join Forces
In Lyon, riot police fired tear gas and charged a group of protesters, some of whom were seen shouting anti-police slogans and dressed all in black, with face coverings.
The Interior Ministry said the police there had been confronted by several hundred hardcore protesters and that the violence had been contained, although tensions remained high.
#5Novembre | Tirs de mortiers, incendies, entraves à la circulation, jets de projectiles contre les forces de l’ordre : depuis ce matin, des actes de violences sont constatés aux abords de lycées dans plusieurs villes, comme à Rennes, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Strasbourg et Paris.
Manifester est un droit, mais la mise en danger d’autrui et la dégradation de biens ne peuvent être tolérés. ❌
Respectez les consignes des forces de sécurité intérieure et désolidarisez-vous des groupes violents. ✅
— Ministère de l’Intérieur (@Interieur_Gouv) November 5, 2026
The unrest comes only five months before a presidential election which could pit presidential candidate Marine Le Pen against rival Melenchon in a second-round run-off. Macron, who is serving his second term and is unpopular, cannot run again.
School Ablaze After Fireworks are Hurled
The interior ministry said people throwing fireworks had caused a fire at a high school near the city of Toulouse in the southwest on Thursday morning, forcing pupils and staff to evacuate the building while firefighters doused the flames.
“This criminal behaviour is an absolute scandal,” said Education Minister Edouard Geffray on X.
Des individus ont mis le feu au lycée Françoise de Tournefeuille, mettant en danger les élèves et les personnels. L’établissement a dû être évacué. Ce comportement criminel est absolument scandaleux.
J’adresse tout mon soutien à la proviseure, aux personnels, aux élèves et à leurs familles. Je remercie les sapeurs-pompiers et les forces de l’ordre pour leur intervention, qui a permis de limiter les dégâts.
Cet incendie volontaire aurait pu avoir des conséquences humaines dramatiques. Je le condamne avec la plus grande fermeté et appelle chacun à le condamner sans la moindre ambiguïté : aucune revendication ne peut servir d’excuse ou de paravent à des criminels. Les auteurs répondront de leurs actes devant la justice.
— Édouard Geffray (@EdouardGeffray) November 5, 2026
French high school students and other demonstrators had earlier faced off against riot police in Paris as they blocked a street with rubbish bins on Thursday morning.
While the demonstrations in Lyon and other cities, including Marseille and Nantes, began in the morning, the main protest march in Paris set off in the afternoon from Place de la Republique.
Since riots and looting on October 17 caught security forces off guard, leaving damaged shops and public buildings across the country and fuelling criticism of Macron’s handling of the crisis, French authorities have issued curfews, bans on large gatherings and have required groups to take alternate routes for demonstrations that avoid main boulevards, which trade unions have decried.
“The government tried to block the demonstrations. The demonstrations are bigger than ever,” Sophie Binet, head of the CGT trade union, told reporters. She estimated that some 250,000 people were demonstrating across France before the Paris march.
“High school students, pensioners, students, workers, all together. Unity wins,” read one banner at the protest in Lyon.
Around 70,000 police were on duty nationwide, a comparable figure to recent weekends. The French government has defended police tactics while saying any abuses would be investigated.
