news

Mobilization against the high cost of living: 219 arrests

On November 14, the Interior Ministry counted 106,000 protesters against the high cost of living and 219 arrests; the inter-union coalition claims 200,000.

france, paris, manifestations, intérieur, assez, interpellations, ministère, légèrement

Key facts

  • The Interior Ministry counts 106,000 participants nationwide, including 24,000 in Paris.
  • The call comes from the yellow vests coordination and youth organizations, which are continuing their mobilization.
  • The youth inter-union puts forward another figure: 200,000 people, including nearly 100,000 in the capital.

The Interior Ministry counts 106,000 participants nationwide, including 24,000 in Paris.

The call comes from the yellow vests coordination and youth organizations, which are continuing their mobilization.

The youth inter-union puts forward another figure: 200,000 people, including nearly 100,000 in the capital.

Turnout is down compared with the previous Saturday. The Interior Ministry had then counted 146,000 demonstrators.

The gap between the official count and the total claimed by youth organizations therefore remains very wide.

At 6 p.m., the Interior Ministry reports 219 arrests on the sidelines of the marches and 10 police officers slightly injured.

Nantes accounts for a significant share of these arrests. The prefecture counts 52 since the beginning of the afternoon, nearly half of the national total.

It notes, however, as usual, tensions at the time of dispersal, at Place de la Nation.

Two unauthorized marches are also reported in the capital, each made up of about a hundred people.

On Rue de Chaligny, a small hostile group throws projectiles. The police then resort to tear gas.

The Paris police prefecture stresses that relatively few incidents are to be recorded over the course of the day.

The current movement does not reach the scale of the first yellow vests episode, which had strung together 33 Saturdays of marches.

From March and the start of the Covid lockdown, these numbers had fallen sharply.

Dig deeper

What is the Ministry of the Interior in this context?

It is the ministry responsible for internal security and public order; it publishes the official count of demonstrators and arrests.

Who are the yellow vests?

A movement born in 2018 against the rising cost of living, it remains a reference point for mobilizations over purchasing power, here alongside youth organizations.

Why does the gap in figures between the Interior Ministry and the organizers matter?

The ministry reports 106,000 participants and youth organizations 200,000: this gap, which is usual, weighs on the reading of the mobilization's true scale.

Why is Nantes highlighted?

The prefecture there records 52 arrests, nearly half of the national total of 219, making it the main hotspot of reported incidents.

What is Place de la Nation?

A large square in eastern Paris, often a point of arrival or dispersal for marches; it is there that tensions are reported at the end of the demonstration.

Lire en français