France arrests top 1,300 as protests spread across Europe

French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said police made 1,314 arrests and 53 officers were injured during nationwide cost-of-living protests on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, as demonstrations also turned violent in parts of Italy and Spain.

The Interior Ministry counted about 410,000 protesters at roughly 298 demonstrations across France, while the CGT union put the figure at about 800,000, CBS News reported. The ministry counted about 550,000 people on Oct. 17, Euronews reported, when about 3,000 businesses were damaged or looted, according to CBS.

Nuñez said the marches “passed off well” but that later violence by “ultra-left” groups reached “an extremely elevated level of violence.” He said several thousand radical activists gathered at the rear of the Paris march, about 500 of them identified as rioters, and that clashes lasted about two hours. Police seized weapons including metal balls, lead pellets, fireworks, slingshots and a katana, he said.

Up to 70,000 officers were deployed, backed by helicopters, armoured vehicles and water cannon. Police counted 110,000 marchers in Paris, while unions counted 250,000. Paris prosecutors said 64 people were arrested in the capital, including six minors. Looting was on a much smaller scale than the week before.

Outside Paris, tear gas was used in Lyon, where the protest had been banned, and in Nantes, Bordeaux, Strasbourg and Clermont-Ferrand. About 17,000 people marched in Marseille, where clashes and street fires followed. In Nice, 11 people were arrested after far-right and protest groups fought downtown. Nuñez said one person was seriously injured in Clermont-Ferrand.

The unrest began in September with high school students in Paris and spread nationwide over rising living costs and education, CBS reported. The Yellow Vests movement has called new protests and sit-ins outside parliament and city halls for Oct. 31. The National Rally also held a rally in Orléans on Sunday to launch Marine Le Pen’s presidential campaign, Euronews reported.

In Italy, the Department of Public Security said nine people were arrested, 87 were reported to authorities and 371 were taken to police stations for checks, including 110 minors, Euronews reported. Marches took place in Rome, Milan, Turin, Florence and Bologna. A small group broke away in Rome and entered the Colosseum before being escorted out, and police in Bologna used a water cannon and tear gas after objects were thrown at officers.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni praised security forces in a social media post. “The right to demonstrate must always be guaranteed, just as the right of citizens to live in their cities in safety,” she said. Italy sent 500 soldiers to Milan after two days of riots the previous weekend.

In Barcelona, about 100 people were arrested after a night of unrest, roughly a quarter of them minors, according to authorities cited by Euronews. About 600 people gathered at the peak, and La Vanguardia counted around 14 looted shops. The gathering was promoted online under the slogan “Instituts Indignats” and was linked to the French “Lycéens Indignés” youth movement.

Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni said the city would join legal proceedings and warned, “This will not be left as it is.” Catalan interior minister Núria Parlon called the violence “gratuitous violence and vandalism.” Catalan president Salvador Illa and Parlon both distanced the unrest from the housing rights encampment in Plaça de Catalunya. Euronews also reported that police cleared housing protest camps in Lisbon and Porto overnight, leaving protesters injured and several arrested.

For Canadians, the unrest is a travel consideration. The Louvre, the Orsay Museum and the Picasso Museum were closed on Saturday, AP reported, and Canadians planning trips to France, Italy or Spain can check the Government of Canada’s travel advisories at travel.gc.ca. The protests come days before the Canada-EU summit in Montreal on Oct. 29 and 30.

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Via CBS News (AP) and Euronews. Figures are from officials and media reports and may be revised.