France has been rocked by violent unrest, with masked rioters accused of setting schools and a fire engine ablaze, assaulting teachers and confronting police.
Disorder spread across the country this week after demonstrations that had initially been largely peaceful turned increasingly aggressive. Students and staff had been protesting the state of education in France.
The protests began last Monday, as students and teaching staff gathered in towns and cities to demand replacements for absent teachers, greater educational funding, school renovations and what they described as decent learning conditions.
However, a series of violent incidents was reported from Tuesday onwards. Tensions escalated after Bally Bagayoko, the left-wing mayor of Saint-Denis, told demonstrators that “violence can be legitimate” in comments that provoked anger across France.
In Marseille, staff at Victor Hugo High School were sprayed with petrol during an attempted arson attack. All members of staff were forced to shelter inside the building for their safety.
In Nantes, a fire destroyed the entrance hall of Nelson Mandela High School on Thursday morning.
Gaëlle Cordier, the school’s deputy head, described the incident as an act of “arson”.
Flames engulfed the entrance hall of Nelson Mandela High School, pictured, on Thursday.
High school students gesture as a fire burns in the background during a demonstration near Lycée Déodat in Toulouse, south-western France, on October 1, 2026.
Footage from the school showed flames spreading through every storey of the entrance hall while people gathered outside to watch.
A second video filmed from farther away captured thick smoke rising from the building.
Elsewhere in Marseille, a firefighter was injured after rioters set a fire engine alight near Saint-Exupéry High School on Thursday morning.
Video of the attack showed black-clad young men striking the emergency vehicle with metal objects before cheering as flames spread across it.
Benoît Payan, the mayor of Marseille, issued an appeal for calm.
Writing on social media, he said: “Our youth is legitimately concerned about its future and that of the public service. It must be able to express itself in a calm framework.
“Today, our city is the scene of unacceptable violence, fires and assaults suffered by teachers, firefighters, journalists and Marseillais, which no cause can justify.
“I call for calm from each and every one, and for finding the path to a democratic expression of grievances.”
Bally Bagayoko, the left-wing mayor of Saint-Denis, pictured, told protesters on Tuesday that “violence can be legitimate”.
Protesting students throw objects onto burning rubbish bins during an ongoing blockade calling for substitute teachers, increased resources and decent learning conditions in Lille, northern France, on October 1, 2026.
A protester kicks a tear-gas canister during clashes with French riot police at a demonstration by high school and university students near Lycée Paul Eluard in Saint-Denis, near Paris, on October 1, 2026.
Trash bins are set on fire in front of the Lycee des Menuts secondary school during a student protest in Bordeaux, south-western France, on October 1, 2026
‘Marseille stands alongside those who defend the public service and the future of our youth, not alongside those who destroy, set fires, and commit violence.’
Speaking in Madrid yesterday, President Emmanuel Macron slammed hard-Left politicians he accused of ‘legitimising violence’ in the French school protests.
Mr Macron has since called a crisis meeting in Paris to deal with the continually growing violence.
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French media reported that all ministerial trips have been cancelled until the beginning of next week, in light of the heightened security situation.
Interior minister Laurent Nuñez slammed the ‘targeting of law enforcement officers, the throwing of projectiles, acts of violence, verbal abuse, attempted arson, and what amounts… to urban violence’.
Education minister Édouard Geffray today called for classes to be held remotely at schools where blockades are taking place.
He described the violent scenes this morning as ‘extremely serious’, calling for ‘those who commit this violence to be prosecuted and punished’ and adding: ‘It goes far beyond the issue of schools alone. No demand can justify such acts.’
In Pas-de-Calais, the headteacher of the Fernand Degrugillier vocational high school in Auchel was injured by a ‘mortar’ firework this morning.
A student kicks a trash bin on fire as students carry out a blockading protest at the Louis Pasteur middle school, in Strasbourg eastern France, on October 1, 2026
Students burn garbage as they protest to demand more resources, in Lille, France, Thursday, October 1, 2026
French national police in anti-riot gear detain a protester as students carry out a blocking protest at the Cesar Baggio secondary school during a day of nationwide public sector strikes and demonstrations, in Lille, on September 29, 2026
The man, in his fifties, was hit in the ear and taken to hospital, officials said. Regional authorities said that 37 have been arrested since this morning.
In Bordeaux, dramatic footage taken on Rue Sainte-Catherine in Bordeaux, one of Europe’s longest shopping streets, showed teenage protesters lighting cans of aerosol on fire in a pile.
After a few seconds, the pile exploded and the gathered crowd of thugs cheered.
At the Claude Fauriel high school in Saint-Étienne, countless young men in hoodies were seen running through the campus.
Several cities have said that their public transport systems have come to a complete standstill.
Marseille officials announced it will stop bus, tram and metro services following a targeted attack against a bus driver near high schools in the north and east of the city.
Meanwhile, Strasbourg has suspended its tram services ‘in order to limit the movement of vandals and protesters’.
Grenoble officials said they were shutting off the city’s bus and tram services due to the ‘high school student movement’.
In Marseille, a firefighter was injured after rioters set a fire engine alight near the Saint-Exupéry high school this morning
A student displays a placard which reads ‘Gen Z is Angry’ near burning trash bins, as part of ongoing student blockading action calling for the hiring of substitute teachers, increased resources, and decent learning conditions in Lille, northern France, on October 1, 2026
At the Claude Fauriel high school in Saint-Étienne, countless young men in hoodies were seen running through the campus
Bins were set alight by rioting young people across France
The left-wing mayor of Saint-Denis, Bally Bagayoko, said early this morning that he stood by his Tuesday remarks as ‘they are the correct words of a mayor who does not wish to engage in a logic of escalating violence’.
The Paris Police Prefect has since filed a complaint against Mr Bagayoko for ‘incitement to commit a crime’.
Yesterday evening, French security services said they had arrested over 600 people during the national riots.
Eighty-three police officers and gendarmes were wounded on Wednesday during the protests, which affected a total of 356 schools, he added.