French minister says local curfews will continue after protests

French interior minister Laurent Nuñez said on Monday that local curfews would continue to be used in the coming days after another weekend of protests. His announcement does not amount to a nationwide curfew or automatically extend every restriction already in place. Prefects decide on the measures in consultation with mayors, he told BFMTV and RMC, according to Le Parisien.

In Paris, the previously announced overnight restriction covered limited parts of Place de la République and Les Halles, from 11pm to 6am. The city’s tourism organisation said that measure ran until 6am on Monday 26 October. Whether those areas face another curfew depends on a further local decision, rather than the minister’s remarks alone.

The interior ministry counted 410,000 people at 289 demonstrations across France on Saturday 24 October; the CGT union estimated nearly 800,000 participants. The Associated Press reported clashes as a march in Paris ended. Nuñez characterised the day as having been kept under control, while saying that 267 members of the security forces were injured and 1,435 people were arrested nationwide over the weekend, according to Actu17. He said he expected further difficulties during protests planned for Saturday 31 October.