Mobilisation of 24 October: 410,000 demonstrators according to the interior, 800,000 according to the CGT

The mobilization on Saturday 24 October 2026 brought together 410,000 demonstrators in France according to the Ministry of Interior, against 800,000 according to the CGT. In Paris, estimates are 110,000 and 250,000, respectively. Franceinfo, TF1/LCI and Radio-Canada report the same accounts allocated to the authorities and the union: their convergence establishes the figures announced, but does not allow the difference between the two estimates to be determined. [S5] [S7] [S16]

Social demands, separate counting

The events concern, inter alia, the purchasing power, the defence of public services and the study conditions of high school students. They intervene one week after the mobilization on 17 October, marked by violence and looting in several cities. According to the ministerial count taken up by TF1/LCI and Radio-Canada, national participation was lower than the 550,000 recorded the previous week. The available data do not detail the methods of counting which explain the difference with the union estimate. [S7] [S16] [S17]

The rally against the Congress of the National Rally in Orleans has a specific object. It should not be confused with all social mobilization. The Express treats him as a separate parade; The information available does not clarify how its participants are taken into account in the national balance sheets. [S17]

In Paris, the calm of the parade and the tensions at the dispersion

The Parisian procession left at 2 p.m. from the gate of Italy to reach the door of Vincennes. The police prefecture had replaced the previously accepted Bastille–Nation route on Friday with a route along the Boulevards des Maréchaux. The interunion finally accepted this change Saturday at midday. The organizers' initial refusal and subsequent agreement therefore correspond to two successive stages, not incompatible narratives. [S5] [S11] [S17]

The demonstration took place calmly before incidents at its point of arrival. According to the police prefecture, cited by TF1/LCI and La Libre Belgique, jets of projectiles preceded the use of tear gas and water-throwing equipment. AFP journalists also reported projectile jets and a police response to the Vincennes Gate. The first stories of a quiet parade do not describe the whole end of the day. [S7] [S21]

Different situations in different cities

In Lyon, the Rhône prefecture counted about 10,000 demonstrators. Franceinfo describes several unauthorized tear gas processions. TF1/LCI also reports, by his journalist on the spot, shelling mortars against law enforcement forces on Maréchal-de-Saxony Avenue. These documented episodes do not make it possible to attribute violence to all participants. [S5] [S7]

In Marseilles, law enforcement also used tear gas. The inter-union demonstration had finally obtained a derogation after the announcement of a ban on rallies. Franceinfo also mentions the use of tear gas in Bordeaux and the deployment of water guns in Lille. Sources do not provide sufficient chronology for each intervention to establish all responsibilities. [S5] [S18]

Protecting people without erasing the freedom to demonstrate

The government announced the mobilization of 70,000 police and gendarmes, citing the excesses of the previous weekend. However, the changes in routes and prohibitions have direct consequences for those wishing to demonstrate: in Paris, LeExpress reports the evacuation of participants from the Bastille square, the initial starting point envisaged. According to the organizers cited by the media, the administrative court had confirmed the change of course. [S7] [S17]

The press release of the Prefecture of the Eure sheds light on the objectives set by the authorities without constituting a national balance sheet. He admits that on 17 October it went well in the department, but invokes a risk of degradation by imitation. It presents the protection of persons, businesses and public buildings as being linked with the peaceful expression of claims. This undertaking alone is not sufficient to demonstrate the proportionality of each operation carried out elsewhere. [S25]

At 1 p.m., Laurent Nuñez announced 135 arrests in the Territory, mainly following controls over access to rallies. This figure precedes part of the afternoon incidents: it does not constitute a definitive assessment or a count of persons convicted of violence. The available documents do not provide a consolidated national record of the injured or the court proceedings. The distinction between participation in a procession, interpellation and individual responsibility remains essential to the day's reading. [S5]