France deploys 70,000 police for protests after last week’s riots

France is preparing for a new day of protests on Saturday, with 70,000 police officers due to be deployed after riots and looting followed demonstrations a week earlier. Authorities have imposed sweeping restrictions, while organisers still expect large crowds in Paris and elsewhere.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the government would be “uncompromising” with vandals and looters. He also said calls for violence had appeared on social media, which he attributed to the far left and radical extreme left.

President Emmanuel Macron met representatives of high-school students on Friday. The representatives said he had made clear commitments, but urged students to keep mobilising.

Macron decreed that only demonstrations organised by recognised trade unions could take place on Saturday. Several cities, including Lyon, Nice and Montpellier, have announced broader bans on gatherings. Even so, hundreds of demonstrations and other actions have been planned. Rules vary by city: Marseille reversed an order barring all protests to allow a union-organised march.

In Paris, a student-union march backed by labour groups has been ordered to follow a route outside the city centre. The Louvre, Orsay and Picasso museums will close for the day, a Paris Saint-Germain home match has been moved to Monday, and some businesses have boarded up their windows.

The preparations follow a week of arrests and court proceedings after unrest on 17 October. Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said on Friday that 232 people had been imprisoned and more than 1,100 had appeared in court. He said about 260 cases involved charges of organised gang activity. These figures concern the legal response to the earlier riots, not the expected turnout for Saturday.

The protests, initially led by students and trade unions, have also drawn wider anti-government groups, including supporters of the revived yellow-vest movement. A website associated with the movement listed more than 500 planned demonstrations and about 200 other actions, and called for Macron to resign.

Political tensions are also expected to be on display in Orléans, where the National Rally is holding a two-day conference. Left-wing groups are expected to gather in the city as thousands of party members attend to hear Marine Le Pen speak. The mayor has warned of unprecedented numbers and said thousands of police would be deployed; public transport is due to be suspended.