The French Government announced the mandatory nightly curfew in some neighborhoods of Paris and in areas of four northern cities – Lille, Douai, Wattignies and Denain – after looting and violence during weekend protests.
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19/10/2026
by
Lusa
O French government announced today the mandatory night curfew in some districts of Paris and in areas of four cities in northern France – Lille, Douai, Wattignies and Denain – after looting and violence during protests on the weekend.
The measure implements the announcement made today by Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu on the imposition of partial mandatory curfews in certain areas of the country, to halt the wave of violence unleashed during the weekend in protests against rising cost of living and the degradation of the education and health sectors, after almost 10 years of President Emmanuel Macron's mandate.
In Paris, the curfew was introduced between 23:00 today and 06:00 Tuesday (22:00-05:00 from Lisbon), after the lootings that destroyed on Saturday and Sunday several areas of the city.
Compulsory curfew prohibits “strictly any presence” in the areas “of the Republic Square and the Les Halles sector”, in the center of the capital.
The Central Government delegation in the North Department has specified that the curfew will be in force in specific areas of the four cities referred to, with the agreement of their respective mayors.
The executive is expected to publish the map of all the municipalities concerned.
Partial curfew aims to protect commercial establishments, following looting in about 3,000 and the episodes of great violence in many French cities during the Saturday protest day and which continued, in some of them, also on Sunday, especially in the French capital, Paris.
It is a temporary measure, he stressed, and precedes a possible declaration of a state of emergency, which gives extended powers to security forces.
“ It is a partial curfew; I believe it is a more appropriate instrument at the moment than decreeing the state of emergency,” said the French Prime Minister, stressing, however, that this possibility was not excluded.
Until 08:00 this morning ( Lisbon 07:00), 2,331 people remained in police custody due to riots and looting, according to the Ministry of Justice, which indicated that 70% were older and that the prosecutors required preventive arrest in more than 80% of cases.
Saturday’s riots included looting of shops, attacks on public buildings and clashes with security forces in Paris and other French cities.
The Minister of Trade, Serge Papin, announced that measures to reduce working hours (equivalent to a partial unemployment regime) will be applied to the commercial sector as of Tuesday, in addition to the creation of a “specific support fund”.
Today, the government also called on representatives of various online platforms to demand the removal of resale ads from looted stores.
Platforms such as Twenty, Amazon, eBay, Leboncoin, Meta and TikTok will be present, as well as the French Alliance of Marketplaces and the Federation of E-commerce and Distance Sale (Fevad).
New demonstrations are planned: the movement of the “yellow vests” announced an “Act II” for next Saturday, October 24, followed by new mobilizations on October 31 and November 5.