“Dear visitors, due to student strikes, the museum is currently closed. We apologise for the inconvenience”. With this notice in French and English, the Louvre, the world’s most famous and most visited museum, announced its closure to visitors today, Monday 19 October. Around 50 students from the École du Louvre – an art history institution located inside the Palais du Louvre but academically separate from the museum – blocked access in solidarity with the student demonstrations.
France awoke today to scenes of turmoil after days of demonstrations and violence in streets and squares across the country. In Marseille, the prefecture has banned all demonstrations this afternoon. “All gatherings and demonstrations are prohibited throughout the municipality from 12 noon to 8 pm today, Monday 19 October 2026”, reads a message posted on X by the deputy police prefect for Bouches-du-Rhône. Paris is also counting the cost of the unrest, with damage and arrests reported. According to Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, 350 people were detained yesterday and overnight following street clashes. Dozens of people across France have been placed in pre-trial detention, Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin told France 2. “There were 2,331 people taken into custody over the weekend; 70% were adults, very often known to the police”, Darmanin said, adding that “more than 80%” were subject to legal proceedings. “Dozens of people have been remanded in custody, including 13 in Marseille”, a city particularly hard hit by the violence.
Around 16.7 million television viewers watched President Emmanuel Macron’s address to the nation last night.
“Tonight, we are all feeling anger and shame. Those who have destroyed must pay”, the President said, issuing a stern warning to the rioters who have laid waste to France.
Nearly 1,000 police officers and gendarmes have been injured, seven of them seriously. The number of young people injured is also rising. A 17-year-old girl is reported to have lost an eye during clashes between police officers and demonstrators in Mulhouse, an incident under investigation by the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN). “Nothing justifies violence”, Macron warned, urging people “not to confuse the hundreds of thousands” of demonstrators and their “legitimate demands” with “those who have destroyed, smashed and looted”. He also called on “all political parties and trade union organisations” to “unambiguously condemn every form of violence”.
Today, the presidency of the French Bishops’ Conference (CEF) has issued an appeal for peace in the country. The statement is signed by Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, Archbishop of Marseille and President of the CEF, and by the two Vice-Presidents, Archbishop Vincent Jordy of Tours and Bishop Benoît Bertrand of Pontoise.
“We urge everyone not to be swept up in this spiral of destructive violence: our country deserves better”.
“We wish to express our support and solidarity with all those who have been injured, as well as with the many shopkeepers who have fallen victim to these acts of vandalism”, write the Bishops, who are following the events in the town squares with concern across all the dioceses. “On Saturday 17 October, our country witnessed unacceptable violence. Serious disturbances took place on the sidelines of scheduled and authorised demonstrations: members of the security forces were attacked and injured, shops were looted, public facilities were damaged and buildings representing the institutions of the State were stormed. These scenes of rioting have plunged the country into shock, fear and desolation, raising numerous questions about the underlying causes of this crisis”.
The statement concludes with an invitation to pray: “Together with all believers, we pray that these disturbances may cease, that legitimate demands may be heard and taken into account, and that peace may be restored through dialogue and respect for justice”.
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