On the third Saturday of social protests in France, 320,000 people took to the streets, including 70,000 in Paris, Euronews reports .
According to the Ministry of Interior, the number of participants in the demonstrations continues to decrease: a week earlier, on October 24, the authorities counted 410,000 protesters, and on October 17, 550,000. However, the organizers of both previous actions claimed 800,000 participants each.
The youth trade union association estimated today's number of protesters across the country at almost half a million people.
The decrease in the number of participants could be attributed, in particular, to disruptions in public transport. In Lyon, trams and metro ran half as often as usual. In Paris, more than 40 metro stations were closed, and there were also disruptions to tram services.
Throughout the day, the Ministry of Interior reported that the situation in the country remained generally calm and no serious incidents were recorded. By 2 PM, 27 people had been detained across France. For comparison, during the October 24 protest, there were 217 arrests by the same time. In several major cities, columns of protesters began to disperse around 4 PM.
However, the authorities did not rule out an escalation of the situation in the evening during Halloween celebrations, which could become a pretext for street clashes.
In Lyon, as a column of protesters approached Place Jean Macé in the city's 7th arrondissement, police used tear gas.
The Ministry of Interior warned that law enforcement would act with maximum severity against those who commit violence and destroy property.
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