France and Germany brace for mass Halloween demonstrations

France plans to deploy 70,000 police for nationwide protests on October 31, 2026, while organisers in Germany expect more than 160,000 people to join rallies in 34 cities demanding better education and relief from rising living costs.

The Halloween demonstrations mark a third consecutive weekend of mass protests in France, where anger over public services and President Emmanuel Macron’s government has brought students, trade unions and a revived Yellow Vest movement together.

Germany’s rallies extend a wave of youth-led protests across Europe. In Serbia, student activism helped unseat the country’s long-time leader at the ballot box, while demonstrations in France have been marred by rioting and looting.

France prepares 70,000 police

French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez has pledged to prevent a repeat of the violence two weeks earlier, when riots and looting caught security forces off guard and damaged shops, public buildings and businesses across the country.

“Everyone is on deck to ensure an extremely firm response to any trouble,” Nuñez told a news conference earlier in the week, describing October 31 as carrying “a very high risk” of unrest. 

Authorities are concerned that people involved in rioting could use Halloween masks to conceal their identities. Nuñez noted that existing laws allow police to ban face coverings when public order is at risk.

The US Embassy has advised travellers to avoid areas where demonstrations or large gatherings are planned.

German rallies planned in 34 cities

Germany’s demonstrations are organised by Gen Z regelt, meaning “Gen Z takes charge”, with Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich among the 34 cities involved. The group opposes compulsory military service and wants greater investment in education.

German authorities expect the rallies to be largely peaceful but warn that extremist groups could exploit the movement. The Federal Interior Ministry said parts of the far-left extremist scene and groups linked to foreign extremist movements had joined mobilisation efforts.

“We all have those images from France in our minds — looting, burning houses, burning police vehicles, and attacks on police officers,” said Roman Poseck, interior minister of Hesse, the state that includes Germany’s financial hub, Frankfurt.

“France must not be held up as a model in this regard.”

Some businesses along Berlin’s luxury Kurfürstendamm shopping boulevard have boarded up windows and planned early closures amid concerns about unrest.

Questions have also emerged about who is driving the campaign and whether it is genuinely youth-led, given the involvement of a broad mix of political and civil society groups.

Germany’s national school-student umbrella organisation, the Bundesschülerkonferenz (BSK), has distanced itself from the initiative and plans a separate protest day on November 20.

“We are distancing ourselves from ‘Gen Z regelt,’ but not from the students themselves, who have legitimate concerns,” BSK secretary-general Amy Kirchhoff said on October 29. 

Education and living costs drive discontent

French students are protesting deteriorating schools, overcrowded classrooms and a university admissions system widely regarded as unfair. Trade unions and Yellow Vest supporters have joined demands for action on living costs.

Government promises to reform education and ease fuel costs have failed to calm the movement, which gathered pace in late September as Macron’s minority government began talks on the 2027 budget.

Public debt approaching 120% of economic output and rising borrowing costs are putting pressure on France to curb spending, limiting the government’s ability to promise additional funding.

Aaron Berthier de Grandry, a 15-year-old high school student from the Paris suburb of Nogent-sur-Marne, plans to join his third consecutive weekend of protests.

“When I was little, I was told young people were the future,” he said.

“Well, if we, as the future of France, lack resources, that means France will end up collapsing.”

German organisers describe growing pressure on younger generations in Europe’s largest economy, which is struggling to revive growth as retiring baby boomers and a shrinking working-age population put pressure on pensions and public services.

“The government has offered no response to our concerns other than to continue making cuts and piling further burdens upon us,” said Steve, an 18-year-old due to speak at a Munich rally, addressing Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

“We will continue to exercise our fundamental right to assemble until you stop ignoring us.”

Sean Baker, a student at the Technical University of Berlin, said he would join the demonstrations to highlight the poor condition of campus buildings.

“When you go inside and enter the rooms, it looks like an abandoned building,” he told Reuters. “Yet this is where we’re expected to study on a regular basis.”

Retail losses deepen France’s economic pressures

The Chamber of Commerce estimates that French retailers have lost more than €1 billion (US$1.1 billion). Other estimates put the total at twice that amount when uninsured damage and lost revenue are included.

Early Christmas lights glow around boarded-up windows and security grilles along Paris’s main shopping boulevards. Outlets belonging to Hermès, Louis Vuitton and Burberry were among those targeted during previous unrest.

The disruption adds to pressure on France’s economy, which contracted in the third quarter, according to data released on October 30.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen has gained politically from the unrest and leads opinion polls ahead of April’s presidential election, while potential centrist successors to Macron remain divided.

The French government is pressing ahead with a controversial proposed law that would make rioters liable to pay up to €10,000 (US$11,000) for damage caused either by themselves or by groups they are deemed to belong to.

Rights groups and some lawyers warn that the measure could undermine the right to peaceful protest.