A new curfew has been decreed for tonight in areas of Paris, after the serious disturbances and looting recorded on the weekend in the French capital. The measure is in force between 11:00 p.m. today and 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, in the areas around Republic Square and Les Halles.
© Murat Karadag/Anadolu via Getty Images
20/10/2026
by
Lusa
Unew curfew has been decreed for tonight in areas of Paris, after the serious disturbances and looting recorded on the weekend in the French capital and other cities.
The measure will be in force between 23:00 today and 06:00 Wednesday (22:00 and 05:00 in mainland Portugal), in the areas around the Republic Square and Les Halles, according to a police decree.
A second decree prohibits “any undeclared concentration” between 20:00 today and 06:00 on Wednesday (19:00 and 05:00 in mainland Portugal), covering several places considered sensitive to the capital.
The prohibition applies in particular to the vicinity of the Elisha Palace, the National Assembly and the Senate, as well as to Avenue dos Campos Elysios and the main railway stations.
The measures arise after the serious clashes and looting that took place on the weekend in Paris, Lyon, Marseille and other French cities during protests against rising cost of living and conditions in schools.
At least 2,400 people were arrested throughout the country during the incidents, which included looting of hundreds of commercial establishments and attacks on public buildings.
The French Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, today announced that the police device for the new demonstrations scheduled for Saturday will be “massive”, recognizing that the strategy used during the protests last weekend was “too static and not very mobile”.
Lecornu also accused groups of extreme left and “ultraleft” of having planned, in some places, an “insurrectional scheme”.
The Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez, announced a review of the police strategy, reinforcing the number of agents, the means available and the capacity for reaction and mobility of security forces.
Nuñez presented his resignation on Monday due to the riots, but President Emmanuel Macron refused it, claiming the need to maintain command of security forces during the current emergency situation.
Macron also demanded clarifications about the flaws in planning and gathering information that preceded the violence and called for the adoption of new police tactics on the ground.