Protesters clash with police during nationwide demonstrations in France

Thousands rally in Paris and other cities for demonstrations set to unite students, teachers, unions and ‘yellow vests’.Published On 17 Oct 2026Protesters have clashed with police in cities across France as major rallies take place across the country.Scuffles broke out on Saturday in the capital, Paris, between groups of protesters and police, who used tear gas to push back people wearing hoods and masks.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3France’s mounting debt: Is Europe next?list 2 of 3Protests spread across France as ‘yellow vests’ set to joinlist 3 of 3France tackles new wave of nationwide protestsend of listThe demonstrations are set to unite students, teachers, trade unions, and the resurging ‘yellow vest’ movement – remnants of the grassroots cost-of-living protests that shook France in 2018.Large numbers of riot police were deployed in the Place de la Republique, a square northeast of the city centre, and surrounding streets on Saturday. Dozens of people were reportedly already detained.Reporting from Paris, Al Jazeera’s Natacha Butler said “a lot” of stun grenades and tear gas were being used by police.She said that what began as a peaceful protests “never really got started”, as police quickly moved to isolate protesters, effectively trapping them between police lines. “That is where some of the trouble began,” Butler said.In the southern city of Marseille, meanwhile, local media reported that protesters breached the town hall and looted shops in the city’s commercial district, while in Lyon, media reports said the local tourism office was set ablaze.This is a “key moment” for France, said Al Jazeera’s Rosie Birchard, reporting from the western French city of Rennes.“There are budget negotiations going on; the French government is trying to find ways to curb its ballooning national debt, and there consequential presidential elections happening next year,” she said.