So, how many demonstrators in France this Tuesday, January 31? The inter-union is already delighted with the mobilization: in Toulouse, as in several large cities in France, the processions are provided.
12:29 – 20,000 demonstrators in Nice?
The unions evoke more than 20,000 demonstrators in the city of the South-East of France, that is to say a mobilization equivalent to that of January 19 for the organizers. The authorities’ figures have not yet been released.
12:17 – First tensions in Nantes
As reported by several journalists in the procession in Nantes, the first tensions between demonstrators and police were seen in the ranks of the procession. Especially the journalist Martin Hernot from Ouest France who said that when approaching the prefecture, tear gas was used by the police. On Twitter he reports “a lot of commotion in the procession”.
12:06 – The first figures of mobilization in schools
Battle of figures between the Ministry of Education and the unions. The first counted 26.65% of striking teachers in primary education and just under 25.22% in colleges and high schools. The Snes-FSU, the leading union of secondary school teachers, claimed 55% strikers and one out of two teachers absent from schools.
11:58 – The left maintains the idea of a referendum
Supported by a large part of the left, like Fabien Roussel, Jean-Luc Mélenchon once again supported the idea of holding a referendum live from the Marseille procession. On BFM TVRenaissance MP Violette Spillebout insisted on the contrary that “it is not the street that will dictate the parliamentary debate”.
11:20 – Jean Luc Mélenchon spoke to the Marseille procession
Like last week, the leader of rebellious France spoke from Marseille on the sidelines of the event. “It’s not often that we see such a mass mobilization” greeted the politician before vituperating the government and President Emmanuel Macron, “his reform nobody wants it, the more the days pass, the more the Opposition is growing,” he added.
11:15 – Nice: According to the unions, 30,000 demonstrators are gathered
As reported nice morningthe announcer of Force Ouvrière would have announced a procession of around 25,000 to 30,000 people this morning on the Promenade des Anglais, that is “5,000 more than last week”.
11:02 – Nantes: tractors as reinforcements
In the morning, the journalist Martin Hernot du Ouest-France estimated that there are visibly fewer demonstrators than on January 19 at the mirror of water, in Nantes. This morning, however, the procession was joined by farmers who came to demonstrate in tractors.
10:52 – About 30,000 demonstrators in Toulouse
According to France Blue Occitaniapresent in the Toulouse procession, the mobilization would be just as important as that of January 19 with around 30,000 demonstrators.
10:51 – 200 high schools blocked this morning
In Marseille, some high schools were blocked this morning, notably in Saint-Charles, Thiers or Montgrand. In Paris, blockades also took place. At Hélène-Boucher high school, high school students blocked the entrances with activists, elected officials and RATP workers. The militants were dislodged by the police. In total, according to the high school student union La Voix lycéenne, 200 establishments would be blocked on Tuesday, including around thirty in Île-de-France.
10:43 – Start of the rally in Marseille
It is from the Old Port at the bottom of the Canebière that the demonstrators gathered in Marseilles begin to regroup in order to express their dissatisfaction against the pension reform. Some high schools are also blocked by students from the Marseille city reported News Marseillewith a message displayed: “we will not retreat”.
10:33 – Rennes: change of course
While the demonstrators must meet in a few minutes in Rennes, the starting point has been changed. Unlike January 19, which started from the General de Gaulle esplanade, on January 31 the procession will leave from the François Mitterrand mail. Fabrice Lerestif, the secretary general of the departmental union Force Ouvrière explained to Ouest-France that “the mall offers a wider configuration, it makes it possible to accommodate more people”.
10:18 – Departure of the first processions
Several processions have already started in France. This is the case, for example, in Toulouse, Pau or Nice, or Agen.
10:08 – How many demonstrators are expected?
Between 1 million and 1.2 million people are expected to demonstrate on January 31 according to an information note, consulted by European 1. A significant mobilization confirmed by the leader of the Communist Party, Fabien Roussel. “Signs tell us that there will be more people in the street,” said the politician this morning on Public-Senat. He considered that the “number of chartered buses” or the mobilization in the sub-prefectures were signals in favor of a massive demonstration.
09:18 – The Ministry of the Interior has planned a large mobilization of police
Gérald Darmanin said yesterday that 11,000 police and gendarmes would be mobilized today, including 4,000 in Paris. This is a little more than on January 19: it must be said that according to the intelligence service, a note of which was consulted by some national media, risks of excesses were pointed out, particularly in the capital. Groupings of the “Black Bloc” type are particularly feared today.
09:07 – Update on the main events of the morning
Here’s what to have in mind this Tuesday to follow the protests. If, in Paris, the procession starts at 2 p.m. from Place d’Italie, the unions have also organized rallies in many municipalities this morning:
- Rennes: Demonstration at 11 a.m. at the François Mitterrand mail
- Toulouse: Demonstration at 10 a.m. – Saint-Cyprie
- Marseille: Demonstration at 10:30 a.m. at the Old Port
- Pau: Demonstration at 10 a.m. on Place de Verdun
- Caen: Demonstration at 10:30 a.m. on Place Saint Pierre
- Montpellier: Demonstration at 11 a.m. on Place Zeus
- Clermont-Ferrand: Demonstration at 10 a.m. on the Place du 1er-Mai
- Roanne: Demonstration at 10.30 a.m., Côteau bridge
- Saint-Étienne: Demonstration at 10 a.m., at Châteaucreux station
- Nice: Demonstration at 10 a.m. in the Albert 1er gardens
- Draguignan: Demonstration at 10 a.m. at the sub-prefecture
- Toulon: Demonstration at 10 a.m. on Place de la Liberté
- Avignon: Demonstration at 10:30 a.m. on the esplanade of Pont Saint-Bénézet
- Béziers: Demonstration at 10:30 a.m. at the Maison des Syndicats
- Castres: Demonstration at 10.30 a.m. on Place Soult
- Tarbes: Demonstration at 10 a.m. at the Labor Exchange
- Bayonne: Demonstration at 10 a.m. on Place Sainte-Ursule
- Agen: Demonstration at 10 a.m. in the Prefecture park
- Angoulême: Demonstration at 10 a.m. at the SNCF station
- Saint-Nazaire: Demonstration at 10 a.m. gathering on the Place de l’Amérique Latine
- Nantes: Demonstration at 10:30 a.m. at the Water Mirror
- Brest: Demonstration at 10:30 a.m. on Place de la Liberté
- Quimper: Demonstration at 10.30 a.m. on the Place de la Résistance
- Laval: Demonstration at 11 a.m. in Boston Square
- Alençon: Demonstration at 11 a.m. on Place Foch
- Le Havre: Demonstration at 10 a.m. on the course of the Republic
- Rouen: Demonstration at 10 a.m. on the Cours Clémenceau
- Calais: Demonstration at 9.30 a.m. on the Place d’Amiens
- Reims: Demonstration at 10 a.m. at the union house