France Reports 320,000 Protesters as Third Weekend of Marches Draws 70,000 Police

France deployed about 70,000 police and gendarmes on Saturday as demonstrations reached a third consecutive weekend.

The Interior Ministry estimated 320,000 people marched nationwide, with 70,000 in the main Paris protest. That compared with more than 500,000 on Oct. 17 and 410,000 on Oct. 24, according to government figures. Organizers have reported higher counts. Authorities reported about 300 arrests nationwide through Saturday, down from 800 at the same point the prior week.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez warned of a "very high risk" of disorder, particularly after dark on Halloween. A Paris court suspended an earlier curfew on minors on Wednesday, ruling it a serious and illegal infringement of freedom of movement. Police barred entry to Place de la Republique and Les Halles from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, and unaccompanied minors face a 9 p.m. curfew around the Champs-Elysees.

The Paris march was rerouted to the capital's edge after a last-minute court battle, with the government seeking to protect shops and keep marches away from city centers. Marchers gathered at Porte de Bagnolet, behind a line of students walking hand in hand, with CGT security agents at the front and police stationed on side streets. The crowd moved along the Boulevards des Maréchaux as techno music played from speakers and a police helicopter circled overhead.

Clashes later broke out near Porte de Charenton, where the march ended. Protesters threw glass bottles and fireworks at police, who responded with stun grenades and tear gas. Some peaceful marchers left the route, coughing with streaming eyes, and entered the nearby Bois de Vincennes.

The movement began last month with high school students protesting neglected buildings, teacher shortages and a university admissions system they see as unfair to disadvantaged students. Labor unions and others critical of President Emmanuel Macron joined with their own demands. Corentin Cabreux, a 21-year-old student, described his state-run residence: "there are damp stains all along the bottom of my walls, whole sections peeling off, cockroaches everywhere, rats."

In Germany, a youth initiative called "Gen Z regelt" rallied in more than 30 cities for education, health, climate protection and an affordable life, and against any return of military conscription. Organizers said tens of thousands took part. In Berlin, protesters gathered at Brandenburg Gate on Saturday afternoon. High school student Janelle Schulz said: "At my school, the ceiling is collapsing because of water damage, nothing is being done about it, we have a shortage of teachers, the toilets are broken."

Police ended a march early in Cologne after protesters used pyrotechnics and threw stones, and used water cannons in Hamburg to disperse crowds there. In Frankfurt, protesters threw stones at police, injuring several officers, one severely, police said.

In downtown Lisbon, thousands including families with small children protested Portugal's housing crisis, holding placards reading "Houses or Fire" and "We are not Afraid." In The Hague, police presence was heavy around the downtown shopping area after online appeals for protests, but there was no major disturbance by midafternoon and many stores were boarded up as a precaution.