France's Macron tightens curbs on protests, blaming hard left for unrest
Macron said union-backed marches may proceed while other demonstrations are barred, as authorities brace for another volatile weekend after 2,700 arrests last weekend.
- On Thursday, October 22, 2026, President Emmanuel Macron announced that 'illegitimate' protests would be banned, permitting only union-organized demonstrations on Saturday, October 24, to restore order following nationwide riots.
- Nationwide cost-of-living protests on October 17 drew hundreds of thousands but were overshadowed by severe urban unrest; Macron attributed the violence to 'seditious' ultra-left groups attempting to 'bring down the Republic.'
- Authorities arrested at least 2,500 people since the disorder began, while Interior Minister delegate Jean-Didier Berger announced a 20% increase in law enforcement and elite police units for the weekend.
- A Paris administrative court suspended a police ban on a student-led march, while opposition figures Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Melenchon traded blame over government authority and police conduct.
- Heightened investor anxiety pushed France's 10-year borrowing costs to 5%, while traders on prediction markets estimate a 23% chance of a state of emergency before January 1, 2027.
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And in Marseilles and Lyons, they banned protests.
Large-scale rallies are set to take place again this weekend in France, which has recently experienced unrest. Authorities have banned all demonstrations by groups other than labor unions and decided to deploy more than 70,000 security personnel. On the 22nd (local time), French President Emmanuel Macron held a meeting of security-related ministries at the Élysée Palace in Paris.
Emmanuel Macron has announced that the French authorities will ban in the following days some of the demonstrations, after the violence and robbery that occurred during the protests against the increase in the cost of life. Restrictions are aimed in particular at the actions called by individuals or groups that the President of France considers to be devoid of legitimacy.
Macron: 'Illegitimate' protests will be banned
Following riots that erupted last weekend, protesters in France are once again taking to the streets. More demonstrations are said to be planned for this weekend, but President Emmanuel Macron is making it clear that "illegitimate" protests will be banned in the coming days.
France's President Emmanuel Macron announced that demonstrations "will be banned in the coming days, while France is trying to keep social unrest under control, after some of the most serious street violence in recent years broke out in the weekend, in the margins of protests about rising the cost of life, according to The Guardian.
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