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As many as 70,000 police and gendarmes will be mobilised throughout France to keep order on Saturday, French interior minister announced on Friday.
“Look at social media: There have been calls from the far-left to target public buildings,” Laurent Nuñez told reporters.
“We are not talking about a nice protest. We are ready tomorrow to be extremely firm and not tolerate anything,” he added.
French president Emmanuel Macron is meanwhile expected to meet with high school unions in an 11th hour attempt to quell unrest anticipated over the weekend.
The outgoing head of state is to meet with students and their associations at the presidential palace at 3pm to discuss the concerns and demands underlying the recent tumult.
Protests erupted last month in response to the perceived state of decline in schools, with students aggrieved by teacher shortages, overcrowded classrooms and crumbling infrastructure.
They have since ballooned into sweeping nationwide rallies, which last weekend descended into rioting, vandalism, arson and looting.
Mr Macron vowed on Thursday to ban all demonstrations not organised by unions, while Paris was to extend its nighttime curfew until Monday, but major events were still planned for the weekend.
Watch: Why is France rioting?
In The Room | Why France is rioting – and is Britain next?
Daniel Keane23 October 2026 19:00
Storm causes power outages and traffic disruptions in France
Storm Austen cut power to nearly 300,000 French homes and disrupted train and plane services with heavy winds and rain on Friday.
A low-pressure front brought 111 mph (179 kph) winds and rains across Europe overnight with towns facing power outages as trees and debris littered roads, causing traffic issues, airport and train delays and reduced access to bridges.
Utility Enedis said in a situation update on Friday that nearly 300,000 clients had no electricity from the storm, with most of disruptions located in Brittany on the western coast and Normandy in the north.
Major disruptions were expected on the Paris commuter rail services, while all rail traffic was suspended in Normandy, French transport minister Philippe Tabarot said in a post on X.
Daniel Keane23 October 2026 18:00
Melenchon’s party calls for French to march ‘peacefully’
Far-left party La France insoumise condemns the government’s actions to ban protests as an “authoritarian headlong rush”.
The party, whose de facto leader is presidential contender Jean-Luc Mélenchon, called on the French to march “peacefully”,
“Civil liberties cannot be a bargaining chip for an executive branch in crisis,” the party said.
James Reynolds23 October 2026 17:00
Man arrested after historic town hall in France burned down during night of riots and looting
A man has been arrested in France after a 19th century city hall was burned down during a weekend of mass unrest across the nation, according to French media.
The suspect, 40, is reportedly linked to a far-left movement and known for acts of violence against public officials and deemed a potential threat to national security, according to FranceInfo.
James Reynolds23 October 2026 16:00
2,700 detained amid riots and looting in France, justice minister says
France’s justice minister Gerald Darmanin said on Thursday that 2,700 people have been taken into police custody since Saturday in connection with riots and looting, as authorities respond to the ongoing unrest in France.
“There have been 2,700 people taken into police custody since Saturday in connection with these riots and looting,” Darmanin said in an interview with French news channel LCI.
James Reynolds23 October 2026 15:20
Violent clashes erupt between Spanish police and anti-fascist protesters days after France riots
More than a dozen people were injured in violent clashes between rioters and police in northern Spain after anti-fascist protests spiralled out of control, in the latest instance of civil unrest sweeping Europe.
Some 5,000 people gathered at a square in A Coruña, a port city in Galicia, on Wednesday morning to protest the visit of politician Santiago Abascal, the president of Spain’s far-right populist Vox party.
Tensions exploded towards the end of Abascal’s speech in the Plaza de María Pita as protesters threw eggs and police repeatedly charged in a bid to disperse the activists, some of whom threw stones and chairs back.
James Reynolds23 October 2026 14:40
French riots drive rift between local governments and state
The mayor of Marseille, Benoît Payan, has called on the French government to roll out support for shopkeepers ahead of another weekend of anticipated unrest.
“I don’t want this to happen again on Saturday,” he said, after rioting and vandalism last week cost the city an estimated 28m euros in damages.
“I want a police presence that will prevent businesses from being vandalized,” he went on, adding that the state should pay “every last cent” to affected businesses.
“I demand to be reimbursed for what we have spent.”
James Reynolds23 October 2026 14:00
Comment: France is on fire. Will it spread to the UK?
The massive explosion of anger and unrest in France has spread like wildfire across Europe – and Britain has no special reason to think it will not be next, says Sean O’Grady
The massive explosion of anger and unrest in France has spread like wildfire across Europe – and Britain has no special reason to think it will not be next, says Sean O’Grady
James Reynolds23 October 2026 13:20
France responds to ICE meme about riots with savage dig on gun control
The French foreign ministry hit back at criticism from the United States over the riots sweeping France on Thursday, days after US president Donald Trump drove controversy by claiming without evidence that migrants were fuelling the riots.
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had shared a video of masked men standing in front of a large fire during the recent demonstrations in France, writing: “Every day we are fighting to prevent American streets from looking like this.”
The inflammatory post was shared by French Response, a page managed by the French ministry of foreign affairs, which clapped back with statistics on US firearm deaths, adding: “Every day we are fighting to prevent French stats from looking like this.”
James Reynolds23 October 2026 12:40
Macron expected to meet with high school unions today
They have since ballooned into sweeping nationwide rallies, which last weekend descended into rioting, vandalism, arson and looting.
Mr Macron vowed on Thursday to ban all demonstrations not organised by unions, while Paris was to extend its nighttime curfew until Monday, but major events were still planned for the weekend.
James Reynolds23 October 2026 12:17