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France protests over schools and living costs bring clashes and arrests

Police used tear gas and a water cannon in Paris as rallies spread across France on 17 October. Reports cited rising arrest totals at different points in the day.

NewsJaws DeskEditorial desk

Published 17 Oct 2026, 15:23 BST2 min read

Front view of Marseille city hall at Villeneuve de Bargemon Square. — File photograph of Marseille city hall at Villeneuve de Bargemon Square, taken in 2012. Front view of Hôtel de ville de Marseille (town hall, xvii century, by Gaspard Puget, Jean-Baptiste Méolans), Villeneuve de Bargemon Square. Marseille, Southeastern France , Western Europe — Mstyslav Chernov, ‘Front view of Hôtel de ville de Marseille (town hall, xvii century, by Gaspard Puget, Jean-Baptiste Méolans), Villeneuve de Bargemon Square. Marseille, Southeastern France, Western Europe’ (resized and converted to WebP). CC BY-SA 3.0.Image source Image licence: CC BY-SA 3.0

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France saw clashes between police and protesters on 17 October as rallies over education, living costs and public services spread across the country. Police used tear gas and a water cannon in Paris, while authorities reported arrests in several cities. An AFP report said Lyon’s tourist office was set on fire, adding to the damage reported during the demonstrations.

Arrests and damage during the France protests

In Paris, police used a water cannon and tear gas after hundreds of protesters, many wearing face masks and some setting off fireworks, confronted officers at several locations, AFP reported. The Daily Mirror also reported tear gas and a water cannon used against crowds in the capital.

AFP reported that protesters entered the town hall in Marseille and that one spray-painted an anarchist symbol on an interior wall before police intervened. It said French media reported broken windows at the Paris offices of broadcasters CNews and Europe 1 after projectiles were thrown. The Lyon tourist office was set on fire, according to AFP.

A source at the Interior Ministry told AFP that, shortly after midday, more than 32,000 people had joined about 140 actions outside Paris and police had detained more than 160 people nationwide. AFP separately reported around 60 detentions in Paris on Saturday morning; it was not clear whether those were included in the nationwide figure.

Reuters later reported that the Interior Ministry put arrests at 272 by mid-afternoon, following violent incidents in Paris, Marseille, Rennes, Toulouse and Angers. The figures describe different points in the day. The Mirror reported a police figure of 150 arrests in Paris, primarily for carrying weapons or prohibited protective gear, without identifying the police source or specifying how that count relates to the others.

The Interior Ministry described attempted looting, confrontations with police, fires involving street furniture and attacks on government and media premises, according to Reuters. It blamed what it called the ‘ultra-left’ for the unrest. That attribution was the ministry’s assessment of the incidents.

How school protests grew into nationwide rallies

Reuters reported that the movement began the previous month at high schools, where anger over teacher absences and poor facilities broadened into protests over living costs and declining public services. At the Marseille town hall, a masked student identified only as Aude told AFP she was protesting what she called ‘deplorable resources allocated to education’ and police brutality.

President Emmanuel Macron appealed for calm and asked demonstrators to respect people and property, the Mirror reported. The rallies come ahead of France’s presidential election scheduled for April next year, AFP reported.