France Protest Crackdown as Spain-Italy Border Checks End

French authorities banned or restricted demonstrations planned across the country on Thursday, Oct. 22, following violence at protests over living costs and school conditions the previous weekend. President Emmanuel Macron said groups he called “illegitimate” would not be allowed to protest, while authorities could reroute approved union marches to protect businesses.

Protest bans and policing

Authorities barred demonstrations in parts of Paris and several other cities. Lyon banned all protests planned for Saturday, while Grenoble, Rouen, Le Havre and Toulon prohibited demonstrations in their city centres. The Rhône prefecture said its Lyon decree followed “the mobilisation that is circulating and in view of the events of 17 October.”

In Paris, police banned a student protest planned for Thursday. A march planned for Saturday could proceed from Bastille, but couldn’t enter the city centre. The Paris Police Prefecture also prohibited Thursday demonstrations near the Élysée Palace, both houses of parliament, main train stations and downtown areas where looting had occurred. A police source told AFP the ban was needed because organisers showed an “inability to prevent violence and vandalism.”

Macron said, “The priority is a return to calm.” On Friday, he would chair a defence council meeting with key ministers to decide “the next steps” for demonstrations planned for Saturday and afterward. He said his government’s general recommendation was that there should be no demonstrations. Prefects would offer trade unions seeking to march alternative routes; authorities would ban demonstrations by other groups “wherever possible.” Macron said he wouldn’t declare a state of emergency.

A Paris student leader, Coppelia Moreau, said: “The authorities are trying to make a distinction between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ protesters.” She added: “What we are seeing is a government that doesn’t want any demonstrations at all. That goes against the right to demonstrate.” Lawyers asked a court to block the student-protest ban. Benjamin Ball, who runs an online map of planned demonstration locations, said of the Saturday march restrictions: “We won’t sign off on it.” The Yellow Vest movement and unions organising cost-of-living rallies also opposed the order.

More than half a million people gathered across France on Saturday, Oct. 17. The BBC estimated around 550,000 participants, while French authorities, cited by The Independent, put the number above 500,000. Students, unions, the gilets jaunes or Yellow Vest movement, and other groups joined the demonstrations. Marches in several major cities, including Paris, remained largely peaceful. Elsewhere, riots, looting and destruction unfolded.

Schools, wages and arrests

The demonstrations began in September at a high school in Creteil, southeast of Paris, over staff shortages, according to The Independent. Class strikes, blockades and protests then spread to Paris suburbs, smaller towns and other parts of the country. Students pointed to underfunded schools, dilapidated facilities and insufficient staff, particularly in lower-income neighbourhoods.

The Independent reported that damage or attacks on staff forced hundreds of schools to close. French media showed videos of rats, collapsed ceilings, leaks and broken furniture. Students also said classrooms grew too hot during summer heat waves and too cold in winter, while school days often ran from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Some university students joined the protests over concerns including a complex and unfair university entrance system.

The protests widened to include opposition to rising living costs and what participants described as a deteriorating social welfare system. The General Confederation of Labour (CGT), one of France’s largest unions, called for lower prices and higher pensions and wages. Union representatives met Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu on Wednesday but reported no concrete proposals. They urged public- and private-sector employees to join another day of action scheduled for Nov. 5.

At least 2,500 people had been arrested since the disorder began, according to the BBC and Al Jazeera. Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said Wednesday that 174 people had been jailed and more than 900 faced prosecution. French authorities reported more than 800 arrests in Paris alone.

Border checks and the wider European protests

Italy and Spain agreed to end mutual border checks at airports and ports on Oct. 23. The countries introduced the checks in August following the migrant crisis in Ceuta. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Spain’s Pedro Sánchez reached the agreement Thursday morning.

Protests elsewhere in Europe coincided with the unrest. Thousands of Greek students and teachers took to the streets demanding more education funding, safe school buildings and affordable housing. They carried banners in French in solidarity with protesters in France. In Spain, thousands had protested unaffordable property in recent weeks, and organisers scheduled the first general strike in 15 years for Nov. 11. ACLED recorded more than 3,600 demonstrations in Europe in the first 19 days of October, according to POLITICO. More than half took place in France, which also accounted for 90% of those classified as riots.