Third weekend of protests in France as youth-led rallies sweep Europe

Hundreds of thousands of protesters, inspired by frustrated high school students, have taken to the streets across France in a third consecutive weekend of demonstrations over living costs and education. 

Youth-led protests were also held elsewhere in Europe on Saturday, 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 Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez warned of a "very high risk" of disorder.

The Paris marches were rerouted to the capital's edge to protect stores, government buildings and tourist areas in the city centre.

Authorities reported more than 560 arrests nationwide by Saturday night, with the government estimating that 320,000 people protested nationwide.

Mass protests on October 17 that deteriorated into some of France's worst rioting in years drew 550,000 people around the country, and demonstrations on October 24 drew 410,000, according to government estimates.

Organisers' turnout estimates are higher.

Diverse grievances

Multiple groups marched together in Paris, including high school students, climate activists and people angry about the cost of living.

Corentin Cabreux, a 21-year-old student, said he lived in a state-run student residence where "there are damp stains all along the bottom of my walls, whole sections peeling off, cockroaches everywhere, rats".

An information technology worker protested in solidarity with the students and her mother, who was struggling with a minimum wage job.

A grey-haired woman carried a sign reading, "The Old are Fed Up Too."

The rallies were started last month by high school students protesting neglected buildings, teacher shortages and a university admissions system seen as unfair to disadvantaged students.

Labor unions and others angry at the leadership of President Emmanuel Macron joined in with a variety of demands.

On Saturday, a joyful crowd streamed for hours along avenues on the edge of Paris, but clashes broke out where the march ended.

Some protesters hurled glass bottles and fireworks at police, who responded with volleys of stun grenades and tear gas.

Many peaceful marchers left the march, coughing and eyes streaming with tears.

Paris police barred people from entering the Place de la Republique and Les Halles neighbourhoods from 11 pm to 6 am Saturday and Sunday, and unaccompanied minors faced a separate 9 pm curfew around the Champs-Elysees.

Protests in Germany, Portugal and the Netherlands

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.

Organisers said tens of thousands participated in the protests across the country. Official figures weren't immediately available.

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

"We call for more money to be invested in social services and education, as well as in climate protection — in short, in our future — because we are the ones who will be affected by this the longest and who will have to live with it," high school student Lara Breitenbach said.

Janelle Schulz, another high school student from Berlin, also said authorities had to invest more money in education.

"At my school, the ceiling is collapsing because of water damage, nothing is being done about it, we have a shortage of teachers, the toilets are broken,"

she said.

While most people rallied peacefully, some protests turned violent on Saturday 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.

Some rioters also threw Molotov cocktails at police after pummelling 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 used water cannons to disperse demonstrators.

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

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

Thousands of protesters converged in downtown Lisbon to peacefully protest Portugal's housing crisis, holding up placards reading "Houses or Fire" and "We are not Afraid".

In The Hague, Netherlands, there was a strong police presence in and around the downtown shopping area on Saturday afternoon after online appeals for protests and fears of rioting and looting.