🔴 Live: France's Yellow Vest movement calls for new round of protests after weekend unrest

French minister of Labor Farandou meets with shop owners affected by vandalism in Paris

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu on Monday accused the "ultra-left movement" of seeking to "orchestrate deep unrest across the country" in the runup to next year's presidential election. FRANCE 24 International Affairs Editor Angela Diffley looks back at Lecornu's remarks in the wake of the violent protests that shook the country over the weekend.

US President Donald Trump on Sunday blamed immigration for unrest during protests in France and urged the country to tighten its migration rules. Trump's post comes after similar comments made by Vice President JD Vance on Saturday.

Vance, who is seen as a potential presidential candidate in the 2028 election, also drew a connection to upcoming midterm races for congressional seats on November 3, where Republicans are not expected to perform well. FRANCE 24's Fraser Jackson reports from the United States.

The Champions League match between Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona will go ahead as planned on Tuesday in Paris, the French Interior minister confirmed, despite the ongoing violence across the country. Tuesday's match between PSG and Barcelona at the Parc des Princes will require a robust security deployment, with police forces already strained following weeks of student protests.

In May, Paris police detained dozens of people after violence disrupted celebrations of PSG's second Champions League title win and a group tried to storm a police station in the French capital.

China has warned its citizens travelling to France to be aware of risks and take safety precautions after violent protests across the country, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Monday. More than 2,500 people were arrested after around half a million turned out across France on Saturday to protest against the cost of living.

Town halls and shops were looted and set on fire in what was some of France's worst violence in years. China's foreign ministry and its embassy in France warned of "violent incidents and clashes between police and civilians" and urged citizens to "raise their risk awareness, closely monitor the local situation, strengthen safety precautions, and avoid demonstration areas", according to CCTV.

Around 100 people gathered in front of the Paris City Hall on Monday as Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire denounced the attacks against democratic institutions that had taken place across the city since Saturday.

“As long as there is no political response to the crisis, it will not be resolved,” Emmanuel Grégoire declared at midday, wearing his mayoral sash, before the participants, including his advisors and numerous journalists.

“We must work toward a more precise platform of demands to lay the groundwork for a way out of the crisis,” said the mayor of Paris, calling on Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu to “take up this issue and begin negotiations with high school, student, and employee organisations.”

Far-left candidate and leader of France Unbowed, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, reacted to Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu's remarks after an interministerial crisis meeting.

He called on the PM to provide evidence for his claim that an "ultra-left" group is planning to plunge the country into chaos leading up to the presidential election:"As a candidate, I find this surprising, as I have heard no mention of such a thing – neither in private nor in public, nor in any calls to action for demonstrations anywhere."

He added on X, "If the prime minister is neither a liar nor someone seeking to incite disorder, he must name those involved and provide proof for his accusation. Otherwise, he should apologise, hold his tongue, and stop stoking disorder – as he, the Paris police chief, and the minister of the interior are currently doing. (At least the Minister of the Interior had the decency to offer his resignation.)"

With costs of living rising across Europe, smaller demonstrations have broken out in other countries. During the weekend, clashes broke out on the sidelines of a cost-of-living demonstration in Milan, with Mayor Giuseppe Sala warning: "I'm very worried because it's a new phenomenon, which also originates from an international scenario and therefore feeds itself."

A smashed window following protests in Milan, Italy's financial capital. Credit: Daniele Mascolo, ReutersIn Spain, hundreds of tents have occupied Madrid's central Puerta del Sol square since September, when the eviction of an 87-year-old woman from her lifelong flat sparked nationwide protests in a country with soaring housing costs.

Dozens of tents have also sprung up in Portugal's main cities of Lisbon and Porto, with protesters demanding action over rising costs of housing.

A spokesperson for UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said there is no excuse for the violent protests seen across France at the weekend, branding them "unacceptable"." Clearly, the violence we're seeing on the streets of France is unacceptable," Prime Minister Andy Burnham's official spokesman told reporters." While the power to protest is at the heart of democracy, this can never excuse violence," he added.

The spokesman urged any Britons living in France who are concerned about the unrest to "follow local advice from the authorities".

The European Union has said the right to peaceful protest "must be protected" in France, while slamming nationwide arson, looting and attacks at the weekend as "unacceptable"." Those who demonstrate peacefully must not be conflated with those who commit violence," EU spokesman Markus Lammert said.

The European Commission, the EU's digital regulator, is also in "close contact" with France's ARCOM media regulator to ensure social media and video-sharing platforms enforce digital content rules against manipulating information and inciting violence."

When online platforms are becoming aware or have a suspicion of a criminal offence that may occur, they have to proactively enforce and inform national authorities," EU spokesman Thomas Regnier said.

In his public statement a short while ago, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said a state of emergency could be imposed "if necessary" while adding that curfews were a better solution to the crisis over violent protests." I am absolutely determined to restore order," Lecornu said. "A state of emergency is still a very serious measure, including in terms of its implementation.

So if it is necessary, of course we could do it. As things stand, however, the issue of curfews, and the implementation of those curfews, seems better suited to the situation we may be facing."

French bond prices have slid sharply while Paris-listed stocks are also dropping, performing worse than other markets. A slide in bond prices on Monday pushed France's 10-year yield up 12 basis points to 4. 90%, while Germany's 10-year yield, the benchmark for the euro zone, rose 3 bps to 3. 43%.

The gap between them, a gauge of the premium investors require to lend to France rather than Germany, was 146 basis points, the highest in two weeks, though it has eased from the nearly 160 bps hit in early October. At that point France's 10-year yield hit 4. 99%, its highest since 2002. Yields are now heading back towards that level.

France's interior minister offered his resignation earlier today over the weekend's rioting and looting in several major cities, but President Macron asked him to stay to respond to police needs in an emergency situation." I submitted my resignation because I am responsible for everything that is happening," Laurent Nunez said, speaking on France Inter radio.

The minister acknowledged that authorities had "lost control" in some major cities on Saturday, with hundreds of businesses looted." You can’t look shopkeepers in the eye when hundreds of businesses have been looted and say we haven’t lost control in some of these major cities. Obviously," Nunez said.

A huge clean-up operation was underway in Paris and other cities as street cleaners worked to clear shattered shop windows and torched bicycles and bus stops. FRANCE 24's Luke Shrago has more.

Speaking after an emergency meeting with top government officials, Lecornu defended the work of police officers faced with violent groups of people, again accusing the "ultra-left" of seeking to sow chaos in the country." There is a whole network that could be mobilised to even call into question the timetable for the presidential election and the holding of the presidential election itself," Lecornu told reporters."

On Saturday, despite scenes of severe violence and extensive property damage, no one was killed, and that is a miracle," he added.

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has asked regional authorities to impose curfews in some cities on Monday evening. The measures, which he said would be "partial" and "localised", are intended to protect businesses after weekend demonstrations spilled over into some of the worst street violence in recent years.

He did not say which cities would impose partial curfews nor what ​form they would take, although he excluded ‌imposing a full curfew on the whole of Paris.

More than 700 people have been taken into police custody following their arrest on Saturday and Sunday, according to the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office. The office said 855 people were arrested in connection with Saturday’s demonstrations and 557 were taken into police custody, 433 of them adults.

“Of those taken into police custody, 278 had their detention extended, notably for theft and looting in shops on the Champs-Élysées, Châtelet, Saint-Lazare and République," the office added, noting that the first court appearances would begin later today. On Sunday, a further 208 people were arrested and 145 were taken into police custody.

France's student protests are exposing what many teachers describe as years of structural neglect, widening educational inequalities and the cumulative consequences of controversial reforms. “We've been ignored basically about every demand we made,” Axel Berra-Vescio, a history and geography teacher in the Paris region, tells FRANCE 24's Eve Irvine.

He also condemns the police response to the demonstrations, warning that repression is unlikely to weaken a movement rooted in years of frustration over the future of public education. Click on the video below to watch the full interview.

Representatives of the "Yellow Vest" movement that staged months of protests during Macron's first term in office have called for a second day of demonstrations on Saturday.

Yellow Vest protesters angered by the cost-of-living crisis teamed up at the weekend with students who have staged weeks of protests and school blockades over teacher shortages and poor conditions, piling pressure on France's embattled government. A Yellow Vest protester in Lyon, on October 17, 2026.

Credit: Laurent Cipriani, APThe group published a map of demonstrations planned for October 24 on its website, with the site's editor, Benjamin Ball, telling AFP: "There is clearly a huge push for there to be an Act II."

Officials in France's second-largest city have banned all demonstrations and public gatherings between noon and 8 o'clock in the evening.

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