Youth-led rallies sweep across Europe

PARIS

AP Photo

Hundreds of thousands of protesters inspired by frustrated high school students took to the streets across France on Oct. 31 in a third consecutive weekend of demonstrations over living costs and education.

Youth-led protests were also held elsewhere in Europe, including in Germany and Portugal.

France’s protests were overwhelmingly peaceful, but gatherings in Paris and other cities ended in clouds of tear gas and scattered fires set by small groups on the margins.

About 70,000 police and gendarmes were deployed across the country after French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez warned of a “very high risk” of disorder, especially after dark on Halloween. Paris marches were rerouted to the capital’s edge to protect stores, government buildings and touristed areas in the city center.

France’s government estimated that 320,000 people protested nationwide on Oct. 31, fewer than in previous protests but still a significant turnout. Mass protests on Oct. 17 that deteriorated into some of France’s worst rioting in years drew 550,000 people around France, and demonstrations on Oct. 24 drew 410,000, according to government estimates. Organizers’ turnout estimates are higher.

Authorities in France reported more than 560 arrests nationwide by Oct. 31 night. Police had arrested thousands of people following riots and looting that marred marches the previous two Saturdays.

In the main Paris march on Oct. 31, each group carried its own banner: High school students, climate activists and people angry about the cost of living.

The head of a student group said yesterday a campaign of high school blockades would restart from today, adding the government’s proposals did not go far enough.

In Germany, a youth initiative called “Gen Z regelt” — roughly “Gen Z’s got this” — rallied in more than 30 cities “for education, health, climate protection and an affordable life,” and against any return of military conscription. Organizers said that tens of thousands participated in the protests across the country, but official figures weren’t immediately available.

In Berlin, young protesters gathered at Brandenburg Gate on Oct. 31 afternoon, demanding more investments in education and housing.

While most people rallied peacefully, some protests turned violent on Oct. 31 night.

In downtown Frankfurt, some rioters smashed several storefronts and stole goods from inside. They also stole weapons from a gun store, which police were able to retrieve later. Some rioters also threw Molotov cocktails at police after pummeling them with stones and bottles earlier in the day, Frankfurt police said on X.

In Cologne, police ended a protest march early after protesters used pyrotechnics, threw stones at them and covered their faces despite a ban. Police also used water cannons to disperse demonstrators.

In the northern city of Hamburg, some protesters also shot pyrotechnics toward police and burned down barricades. Police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the crowds in Hamburg.

Elsewhere in Europe, people also protested against the housing crisis and for a better future.

Thousands of protesters, including families with small children, converged in downtown Lisbon to peacefully protest Portugal’s housing crisis, holding up placards reading “Houses or Fire” and “We are not Afraid.”

However, riot police with dogs stormed protest camps in Lisbon and Porto early yesterday, charging demonstrators with batons, arresting 13 people and leaving dozens injured.

Clashes quickly broke out as dozens of officers moved in on an encampment in Lisbon’s Rossio Square and a smaller camp in Porto’s Dom Joao I Square at around 4:30 a.m.

In The Hague, Netherlands, there was a strong police presence in and around the downtown shopping area on Oct. 31 afternoon after online appeals for protests and fears of rioting and looting. However, there were no major disturbances by midafternoon. Many stores in the city were boarded up as a precaution.