Macron bans ‘illegitimate’ protests in France as he tries to get a grip on unrest

French president also says he will decide on concrete ‘next steps’ for the next nationwide demonstrationsJon Henley in Paris

People watch a burned-out car after a quiet night Monday under curfew, the first since weekend protests over the cost of living turned into rioting and looting across France, in Paris, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Emmanuel Macron has said “illegitimate” demonstrations will be banned over the coming days as France seeks to get a grip on civil unrest after some of its worst street violence in years erupted on the fringes of cost of living protests at the weekend.

Speaking after a ​meeting with intelligence officials and senior ministers, the French president said on Thursday that demonstrations organised by recognised groups would be allowed to go ahead, although their routes could be changed.

Protests requested by “individuals or groups with no legitimate authority” would be banned, Mr Macron said. Requests by organisations such as trade unions would be “examined in accordance with the law” but they might have to use alternative routes.

The measures were necessary to protect city centres, businesses and public buildings, he said, adding: “The rules are simple and I think they’re commonsense. The general recommendation is that there should be no demonstrations in the coming days.” 

Mr Macron blamed much of last weekend’s unrest and looting on rioters who came expressly to loot, but said the worst of the violence was due to “political and seditious acts by ultra far-left groups who aimed to bring down the republic”.

“The priority is a return to calm,” he said, adding that he would chair a defence council meeting of key ministers on Friday to decide concrete “next steps” for new nationwide demonstrations called for Saturday and afterwards.

An initial police ban on a student protest planned in Paris for Thursday was overturned by a court, but marches also scheduled for the day in Grenoble, Rouen, Le Havre and Toulon were halted.

Authorities have already declared a ban on “all protests” on Saturday in the centre of Lyon, France’s third-biggest city, where between 200 and 300 shops were ransacked and looted last weekend and the tourist office was set ablaze.

Police officers from a CRS unit on the Pont de la Concorde, in front of the National Assembly with the Eiffel Tower visible in the background, are firing tear gas grenades at a group of demonstrators who are building a barricade, Demonstration against the high cost of living and the deterioration of public services in Paris, France on October 17, 2026. A convergence of struggles between the Yellow Vests, secondary school pupils, students, trade unions and citizens mobilised against the austerity policies implemented by the French government. (Photo by Amaury Cornu / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images)

Authorities in Marseille, Nice and Toulon announced similar bans for Saturday. In Paris, a march planned for Saturday to be held in the east of the capital, starting at the Place de la Bastille, was authorised but banned from heading into the city centre.

However, a separate march through the capital planned for Saturday by students and some members of the gilets jaunes (yellow vests) movement, whose protests over fuel prices rocked France in 2018 and 2019, would not be permitted, authorities in the capital said.

France’s main student union, UNEF, has also called ‌for rallies on Saturday. Businesses in central Paris and other cities had already begun boarding up their windows and hiring private security in preparation for violence, French media reported.

The justice minister, Gérald Darmanin, said 174 of the 2,500 people arrested since last weekend’s rioting had been remanded in custody and more than 900 were being prosecuted. Two people have been arrested after Limoges town hall was set on fire.

The prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, was hosting a meeting of key figures from France’s main political parties on Thursday to hear their views and seek cooperation, and was due to meet several big-city mayors later in the day.

The tough security response has included partial night-time curfews in parts of several cities including Paris, as well as bans on gatherings in areas such as around the Élysée presidential palace, the parliament and the city’s main train stations.

The demonstrations began last month in a high school in Créteil, south-east of Paris, over staff shortages and dilapidated buildings, and spread nationwide, with strikes, blockades and demonstrations by high-school pupils around the country.

Those demonstrations have morphed into larger protests over soaring living costs, six months before next year’s presidential elections, which will choose Mr Macron’s successor.

- The Guardian