Sahil Jiwani — October 27, 2026
France is facing a wave of protests started by students last month. Protests started at Saint-Exupéry high school on September 21st, when students and teachers advocated for better staffing and resources. While this initial protest didn’t garner much publicity, students across the country eventually started following suit. These protests quickly evolved from frustrations against the education system to overall frustrations against rising prices and fiscal tightening. Now, the protests have completely transformed into full blown riots. The French Interior Ministry said about 410,000 people participated in about 298 riots, vandalizing and looting over 3,000 businesses. This has led to over 1,000 individuals arrested and 53 officers injured.
The main factor fueling this public unrest is the level of debt the French government is in. As of right now, France is in around 4 trillion dollars worth of debt. This has caused French president Emanual Macron to shift the government to an extremely fiscally conservative one. To achieve this, Macron has proposed a plan to save 54 billion dollars a year through tax increases and spending cuts, including spending on education. Additionally, this plan includes reduced local police budgets, reduced tax breaks, lowered medical reimbursement rates, restricted paid sick leave for government employees, and even a halt on full inflation indexing for monthly pensions above a certain threshold.
Macron has strongly condemned these riots, vowing that rioters will pay for damaged properties and that the authorities will respond with utmost force. However, members of both the right and left still heavily criticize Macron for causing these riots. Furthermore, these riots have become a political symbol for the upcoming 2027 presidential election between far-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen. Mélenchon has sided with the protesters, framing the events as a social crisis that deserves government attention. Mélenchon even joined the protestors in the streets of Paris. Le Pen, on the other hand, has severely condemned the protestors, framing it as a social issue due to “anarchic immigration” policies. Many extremists claim that these protests are “anti-white” and conducted by the “Islamic holy alliance,” claims that have no backing. Ultimately, members of both sides of the political aisle are attempting to frame France’s economic struggles as a political weapon to attack the other side, while the people of France struggle to afford everyday necessities.
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