Petrol bombs were thrown at police and shops were targeted as violent Halloween unrest spread across Europe.
Berlin became the latest European capital to see clashes after more than 3,500 demonstrators, many in costume, took to the streets. Riot police faced flares, fireworks and glass bottles during the disorder.
In Paris, an officer was engulfed in flames after being hit by a Molotov cocktail. France’s interior minister described the attack as ‘attempted murder’.
The unrest came after weeks of student demonstrations across Europe. More than 320,000 people are reported to have taken part in marches across France, where protests over education funding have expanded into a wider movement.
In Albania, student frustration over soaring living costs and underfunded education has combined with calls for Prime Minister Edi Rama to resign. Demonstrations have grown increasingly violent, with protesters throwing paving stones, flares and petrol bombs at police.
German protesters are also concerned about conscription, fearing that the introduction of voluntary military service could eventually lead to compulsory service.
At least 56 people were arrested in Berlin after protesters occupied tram tracks, blocked roads and continued marching into the evening. Police deployed water cannons and pepper spray, while 27 officers were injured.
Youth protest group Gen-Z Regelt! – meaning Gen-Z has got this – had called demonstrations in 34 German cities on Saturday.
People try to break a window of a store selling weapons, during a nationwide protest by campaign group Gen Z regelt against underfunding of schools, cuts to education, social services, culture and healthcare, rising living costs, and military conscription, in Frankfurt
Flames rise on riot policemen after a Molotov cocktail was thrown as clashes occur between protesters and riot police during a demonstration against rising living costs and cuts to public services in Paris, France, 31 October 2026
Protesters stand beside burning waste bins during an anti-government demonstration in central Tirana, Albania
In Berlin, the Daily Mail watched as around ten police officers tackled a young man to the ground and dragged him away, leaving a puddle of blood on a shop’s doorstep
An afternoon gathering near Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate remained largely peaceful.
Violence broke out during a separate evening march involving other groups, including large numbers of pro-Palestinian demonstrators, who gathered under the banner ‘Gen-Z has had enough!’
The Daily Mail witnessed one young man being brought down by around ten police officers and dragged away, leaving blood on the doorstep of a shop.
Several other people were arrested, including at least one journalist covering the demonstration.
Demonstrators carried signs reading ‘Time for resistance’ and ‘Merz must go’, referring to Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Chants of ‘free Palestine’ were heard alongside calls for ‘anti-fascism’, as the far-Right Alternative for Germany (AfD) continues to gain ground. The party has enjoyed growing support in eastern Germany and won a recent state election in Saxony-Anhalt.
A biology teacher brought a deck chair to Rosenthalerplatz, where the Berlin march began.
He was quickly struck by an egg but did not leave. He told the Mail that he had come to better understand the concerns of his 18-year-old students.
On the scenes of looting at French protests earlier this month, he added: ‘Nobody needs so much luxury, but also, nobody has the right to destroy such stores.
‘I don’t think it’s good what happened there, some people just like the violence.’
By 7.30pm, officers said that all those who refused to go home would face water cannons and arrest. The crowds, meanwhile, chanted ‘shame on you’ and ‘all police are b*******’.
A French Gendarme who is partly burning runs in a street as facing protesters at the end of a protest march during nationwide demonstrations over the rising cost of living and inequality organised by Yellow Vest movement
Police run past a trash dumpster set on fire by protesters in downtown Frankfurt
A person dressed in a Batman costume stands in front of a burning trash dumpster in downtown Frankfurt
Demonstrators pose with Halloween masks as they attend a protest under the slogan ‘Gen Z Takes Care of It’ in Frankfurt, Germany, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026
Police officers take cover behind a vehicle with a Molotov cocktail fire during an anti-government demonstration in central Tirana on October 31, 2026
The protesters eventually trickled away, but officers remained on high alert on every street corner in the area.
In Germany, student protests were followed by clashes in several cities, with police deploying water cannons in Frankfurt after officers were pelted with stones and firecrackers.
At least one officer was injured during the unrest in the city, according to the local force.
Police later arrested one person and seized two weapons after the windows of a gun shop in central Frankfurt were smashed.
Officers secured the remaining weapons inside the premises.
As the violence continued into the evening, the force urged anyone not taking part in the protests to stay away from the city centre, warning that Molotov cocktails were being thrown at emergency personnel.
There were also reports of disorder in Cologne, where around 50 people were reportedly arrested following a demonstration in the city centre.
German broadcaster RTL reported that groups wearing dark clothing had been kicking walls, shouting and throwing pyrotechnics.
Water cannons were also used in Cologne and Hamburg, while officers in Leipzig deployed pepper spray. An officer in Bonn suffered minor injuries.
In Bremen, police said a march that began peacefully descended into disorder when some participants set off pyrotechnics and insulted officers.
Demonstrations were also held in Munich.
Protesters in La Plaine Square set up barricades in the side streets on October 31, 2026 in Marseille, France
Thousands of protesters gather in the evening in La Plaine Square, set up barricades, and clashed with police on October 31, 2026 in Marseille, France
Protesters clash with police officers during a demonstration organized by the ‘GenZ regelt!’ (Gen Z has got this!) initiative in Cologne, Germany
Berlin became the latest European capital to witness clashes as more than 3,500 demonstrators
In Berlin, at least 56 people were arrested as protesters occupied tram lines, blocked roads and marched into the evening. Police used water cannons and pepper spray, with 27 officers injured
Protesters wearing Halloween costumes pose in front of the French national flag during a demonstration in Lyon, central-eastern France on October 31, 2026
People clash with police in front of the Ministry of Education during a demonstration asking for the Prime Minister resignation in Tirana, Albania
Pictured: Protestors dressed up for Halloween in Berlin
Gen-Z Regelt! said some 120,000 people took part in demonstrations across Germany. Police said the main protests themselves had been ‘very peaceful’.
Andreas Rosskopf, an official from the police union, told the Rheinische Post that officers had intervened ‘very decisively and also forcefully’ where violence did break out, adding that property damage had largely been avoided by the evening.
Gen-Z Regelt! said it explicitly rejected violence in Germany. ‘Extremist groups, anti-constitutional symbols, racism and hate speech have no place with us – no matter from which side,’ it wrote online.
In Albania, footage from the capital Tirana showed demonstrators throwing petrol bombs and paving stones at police.
Protests over insufficient education funding have become part of a wider movement demanding Rama’s resignation, with demonstrations repeatedly descending into violence.
Meanwhile, French police arrested five people accused of attempting to loot a Foot Locker store in Marseille.
Police in the Bouches-du-Rhone prefecture said the suspects were caught trying to break into the shop’s storerooms.
France’s interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, said around 150 demonstrations had passed peacefully on Saturday, but police had faced an ‘extraordinary’ level of violence from some rioters.
A police officer stands near a burning car during a demonstration in Paris
A French Gendarme who is partly burning tries to extinguish the fire in a street as facing protesters at the end of a protest march
French gendarmes operate with a street barricade on fire in the background during nationwide demonstrations
Police face protesters during a demonstration called ‘GenZ hat genug!’ (Gen Z has had enough!) in Berlin, Germany
A protester wearing a costume stands next to a burning fire during a demonstration in Paris
A protester sets up a barricade at La Plaine Square on October 31, 2026 in Marseille
Protesters in La Plaine Square set up barricades in the side streets on October 31, 2026 in Marseille, France
Two people try to put out the barricade set on fire by protesters on October 31, 2026
Police officers in riot gears walk by a rubbish fire as they confront protesters taking part in a banned demonstration in Marseille
Describing the Molotov cocktail attack on the Paris officer as an ‘attempted murder’, he warned that the night was not yet over.
‘We are fully prepared for those looking for confrontation,’ he said.
The French unrest began with demonstrations by high school students demanding the equivalent of around £9billion for the education system, before expanding to draw in groups ranging from trade unions to Black Bloc anarchists.
Demonstrations have also spread to countries including Italy, Portugal and Poland.