Police used tear gas and charged at protesters on Saturday as tens of thousands took part in anti-government demonstrations across France.
About 106,000 people marched nationwide, including in Paris, during what organisers called the fifth consecutive “Act V” day of protests.
More than 120 people were arrested as the demonstrations, now in their fifth straight weekend, continued to reverberate across the country.
Protesters jeered at police and called for President Emmanuel Macron to resign as his approval ratings fell to their lowest level since he took office in 2017.
Armoured officers were seen pursuing demonstrators through streets in several cities, with clashes intensifying and police striking some protesters with batons.
By 6pm, a French Interior Ministry spokesman said: “There have been 121 arrests across the country so far, following disturbances in numerous cities and towns.”
Video filmed in Paris showed riot police confronting young people near Place de la Nation in the east of the capital as a march came to an end.
Trade union activist Remi Durand said: “The police were ridiculously heavy-handed — they were attacking anyone they could find with their weapons.”
Protesters clash with riot police during a demonstration over rising living costs and cuts to public services in Montpellier, France, on Saturday, November 14, 2026
Police intervene after a fire breaks out in the street during a demonstration from the Manufacture des Tabacs to Place Jean-Mace in Lyon on Saturday, November 14, 2026
A riot police officer stands before a burning barricade after a demonstration in Lyon on November 14, 2026, during nationwide protests over living costs and inequality organised by the Yellow Vest movement
Adrien, a 20-year-old cellist performing with a volunteer orchestra at the Paris rally, said demonstrators were particularly concerned about a bill before parliament that would presume police officers who use their weapons acted in legitimate self-defence.
“We’re scared when we come to a protest, and this will only make us even more afraid if their impunity is strengthened,” he said, after tear gas hit protesting musicians during a demonstration last month.
Supporters of the proposed police legislation, including Marine Le Pen’s hard-Right party, say it is needed to prevent officers from automatically being accused of using disproportionate force.
Opponents say the measure would create a “licence to kill” and make it even more difficult to hold security forces accountable in a country where alleged police brutality cases seldom reach a criminal court.
Across France, other demonstrators demanded improved education, greater rights for children or simply sang in support of a better future.
In Bordeaux, 72-year-old Josette loudly performed the protest song “I have two passions: brass bands and revolution”.
“My children didn’t want me to come,” she said. “But I’m so grateful to the youth for starting this movement.”
“They’re giving us hope at a time when it feels like we’re heading straight for disaster, with the planet growing hotter and far-right movements becoming increasingly unapologetic.”
Riot police charge as they disperse demonstrators during a nationwide day of protests in Paris on November 14, 2026
Protesters move through tear gas during a demonstration in Marseille, southern France, on November 14, 2026, as part of a nationwide day of protests
The unrest began with a campaign led by high school students, who called for the equivalent of about £9 billion in additional funding for the education system.
It has since grown into a broad movement involving groups ranging from trade unions and Black Bloc anarchists to members of the Yellow Vest movement.
The Interior Ministry said 106,000 people marched across France on Saturday, including 24,000 in Paris, making it the smallest national turnout in recent weeks.
Student unions gave a far higher estimate of 200,000 demonstrators nationwide, including nearly 100,000 in the capital.
“No justice, no peace,” one protester shouted through a megaphone in Paris as students, union members and Yellow Vest activists marched for the fifth Saturday in succession.
Others demanded the president’s resignation or chanted, “Everybody hates the police”, while another group carried a giant puppet wearing a hat labelled “Lord Macron”.
Although most rallies in recent weeks have been peaceful, some have been marred by isolated violence and accusations of police brutality, including alleged assaults involving young teenagers.
Saturday’s arrests brought the number detained during unrest over the past month to at least 4,000, while hundreds of people have been injured.
Two masked demonstrators hold a French flag before a burning barricade in Lyon on November 14, 2026, during a nationwide Yellow Vest protest over living costs and inequality
A protester kicks a tear gas canister during a demonstration in Bordeaux, south-western France, on November 14, 2026
Around 70,000 police officers and gendarmes have been deployed on each protest Saturday on the orders of Interior Minister Laurent Nunez.
He also warned that social media contained numerous posts “calling for acts of violence against the police and public buildings”.
Mr Nunez said authorities would respond “extremely firmly” to any such violence.
He added that an attempted murder investigation had been opened after petrol bombs were thrown at gendarmes during a Paris march at the end of last month.
Arson has also become an increasing concern, with a series of attacks aimed at public buildings during the unrest.
The targets included the 19th-century town hall in Limoges, which was almost destroyed by fire last month, and a historic tourist office in Lyon that was also set alight.
Left-wing politicians have been accused of inflaming tensions, while they argue that paramilitary police units have provoked protesters.
Jean-Luc Melenchon, the presidential candidate for France Unbowed, said excessive quantities of tear gas had been used against peaceful demonstrators.
Protesters demonstrate against rising living costs and cuts to public services in Montpellier, France, on Saturday, November 14, 2026, beneath a sign reading “Class struggle”
He said: “It seems that confrontation is the very goal of this public-order strategy. It’s pathetic.”
The protests come as France prepares for a presidential election in April.
Recent polls show Mr Macron’s popularity at its lowest point since he became president in 2017. His government also has limited room to meet protesters’ demands as it attempts to bring down the country’s debt.
Opinion surveys indicate that Marine Le Pen, the hard-Right National Rally candidate, could face hard-Left contender Jean-Luc Melenchon in a second-round contest.
She is appealing against a conviction for misappropriating European Parliament funds and could therefore become the first convicted criminal to enter the Élysée Palace.
In Toulouse, Kenza, a 28-year-old asylum law specialist, condemned the government’s handling of the unrest.
“The repression of protesters is unacceptable — even more so when they are children,” she said.
Lawyers said last week that police violence during recent demonstrations had caused “mutilations”, including injuries to protesters’ hands, feet and eyes.
Saturday’s demonstrations were largely peaceful, although police used tear gas to disperse crowds in Paris, Bordeaux and Nantes.
Unions have called for another day of strikes on Tuesday after rejecting a government pledge to raise the minimum wage by 0.6 per cent, dismissing the increase as “crumbs”.
The biggest protests of recent weeks took place during a union-led strike last Thursday, when official figures put nationwide attendance at more than half a million people.