Paris, 17 October. A nationwide day of protests against the rising cost of living and cuts to education spending took place in France on 17 October; demonstrators clashed with police in Paris, Lyon, Marseille and other cities, and at least 272 people were arrested across the country (Anadolu, BES.media).
Estimates of turnout differ: police counted about 20,000 people each in Lyon and Nantes and 10,000 in Rennes, while the CGT union, cited by RBC, put the figure at 800,000 people at 1,750 events nationwide; the authorities had expected about 40,000 participants in Paris and its suburbs and about 150,000 in the regions (Anadolu, RBC, BES.media). School pupils, who have been demanding more teachers and smaller classes since mid-September, were joined by university students, farmers, trade unions and former members of the Yellow Vest movement (Anadolu, BES.media).
In Paris, BFMTV reported 163 arrests; near Place de la République police used tear gas and water cannon, and a vehicle was set on fire (Anadolu). In Lyon masked people smashed the windows of the tourist office on Place Bellecour, and in Marseille protesters broke down the door of the town hall and briefly got inside (Anadolu, BES.media). The mayor of central Paris, Ariel Weil, reported an attack on a police station (TASS).
Background: The day before, President Emmanuel Macron urged protesters to stay calm, saying the right to protest does not justify violence (BES.media). Protests took place on 17 October in other European countries as well: in Brussels and Liège students, teachers and union activists rallied against education reforms and austerity, and protesters put up barricades near a Brussels railway station (Anadolu); in Milan thousands marched against the rising cost of living and Giorgia Meloni's government, and there were clashes with police (Anadolu). The Yellow Vest movement emerged in France in 2018 from protests against fuel taxes (Anadolu).
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