France’s highest administrative court has upheld a ban on the main Paris demonstration marching through the centre of the capital, settling a last-minute legal battle hours before Saturday’s protests began.
The Conseil d’Etat ruled in the early hours of Saturday in favour of the Paris police prefecture, overturning a lower court decision on Friday afternoon that had briefly reopened the route between Place de la Bastille and Place de la Nation. The authorised march will instead run along the capital’s eastern edge, from Porte de Bagnolet to Porte de Charenton, with the gathering authorised from noon to 6 p.m. and the march setting off at 2 p.m.
The CGT trade union, which had declared the Bastille-to-Nation route, urged demonstrators to follow the authorised route despite its disappointment. “We never call on people to take prohibited routes. So, under duress, with a heavy heart, we are calling on people to follow the authorized route,” CGT representative Karl Ghazi told Agence France-Presse. Le Monde reported that some people on social media were still saying they intended to rally at Bastille and march to Nation.
The ruling came as France braced for a third weekend of protests coinciding with Halloween, with about 70,000 security personnel deployed across the country — the same number mobilised a week earlier. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez has warned of a “very high risk of public disorder” and said marches would be allowed, but not in city centres.
Authorities have moved to restrict the day’s demonstrations after the clashes, looting and vandalism that erupted on 17 October, which officials have acknowledged followed security and intelligence failures. More than 40 metro stations in Paris were due to close on Saturday and tram services were expected to be disrupted, while a night curfew will apply in the Republique and Chatelet-Les Halles neighbourhoods from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
The protest movement brings together Yellow Vest activists, trade unions and school and university students. It began over the rising cost of living, inequality and deteriorating learning conditions, and has since broadened to include demands for greater protection of civil liberties and the right to protest, after a security crackdown and serious injuries to some demonstrators.
Ministers are also on alert for the evening, after social media calls for Halloween gatherings urging protesters to spark a “revolution” and for a “night of darkness”. Nunez has warned that protesters will not be allowed to wear masks concealing their faces. With a presidential election six months away and far-right leader Marine Le Pen leading opinion polls, President Emmanuel Macron said this week it was “not normal” for France to be in such a state of “turmoil” so close to an election.
Sources: Agence France-Presse, “France on alert as Halloween protests raise risk of violence”, https://www.journalmalte.com/Politics/805917-france-on-alert-as-halloween-protests-raise-risk-of-violence.html ; Le Monde, “Map of banned and planned demonstrations in Paris”, https://www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2026/10/31/map-of-banned-and-planned-demonstrations-in-paris_6767554_8.html ; Sortiraparis, “October 31 protest: final route, Bastille–Nation march canceled by the Council of State”, https://www.sortiraparis.com/en/news/in-paris/articles/356351-october-31-protest-bastille-nation-route-canceled-by-the-council-of-state
