70,000 Officers Deployed as France Prepares for New Protest Wave

France is preparing for a significant escalation in street protests on Saturday, a week after previous unrest resulted in looted stores and burned vehicles across the country. The government has moved to secure major cities with an unprecedented level of policing as students and workers return to the streets to voice grievances regarding education funding and the high cost of living.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez confirmed that up to 70,000 police officers will be deployed nationwide for the event. These ground forces will be supported by helicopters, armored vehicles, and water cannons to manage the crowds. In the heart of Paris, a small number of gendarmes were positioned under the Arc de Triomphe and along nearby avenues. Authorities also adjusted the main march route on Friday, shifting it to the city's southeastern edge between Porte d'Italie and Porte de Vincennes. This change avoids the previously planned path from Bastille to Nation, where crowds are expected to be large, similar to the half a million people who marched last week.

The movement initially began last month over staffing shortages at a high school southeast of Paris, but it has since expanded its scope. Students are demanding more teachers, improved school facilities, and increased university enrollment. Unions are simultaneously pushing for higher wages and better pension benefits to help families manage their daily expenses. Student groups have formalized these demands into a ten-point plan, which includes creating 250,000 new higher education spots, ending the Parcoursup selection system, and providing an additional 200 euros per month in student grants. The plan also calls for a rent freeze in public student housing.

Local businesses and cultural sites have been forced to adjust their schedules. Major venues such as the Louvre, Musée d'Orsay, the Picasso Museum, and the Grand Palais are closed for the day. Art Basel allowed public entry on Friday for a single day before cancelling its weekend program due to the threat of instability. Shop owners have spent the week barricading their entrances. Akram Ahmed, a 34-year-old contractor, was seen boarding up an optician's shop near Saint-Lazare station. He noted that the owner told him he was saving his life, reflecting the anxiety among merchants after roughly 3,000 shops were damaged or looted last weekend.

Not all planned marches have been permitted to proceed. While Paris and Marseille will host demonstrations, local authorities have banned rallies in other major cities, including Lyon, Nice, and Montpellier. Reports from French media indicate that police used tear gas in Lyon on Saturday morning. Trade unions have criticized these bans as a violation of the constitutional right to freedom of expression. Outside of Paris, the damage from previous protests has been severe, with two suspects placed under formal investigation for the fire that nearly destroyed the 19th-century city hall in Limoges. The investigation includes charges of attempted murder against a public official. Paris police prefect Patrice Faure advised shopkeepers to hire security guards, though he later clarified that protecting businesses is a government responsibility.

President Emmanuel Macron is navigating this crisis during the final phase of his term, with his popularity at its lowest point since taking office in 2017. He has stated that the security measures are necessary to protect city centers, businesses, and public buildings. In Orléans, located about 110 kilometers south of Paris, thousands of people gathered for an anti-far-right protest. This demonstration took place alongside a two-day congress of Marine Le Pen's nationalist party, which is preparing for the presidential election next spring. Victoria Ambrosini, an art critic and teacher at Saint-Denis University, observed that money is now concentrated in the hands of very few people, stating that it is no longer possible to continue as things are.