PARIS, France (AFP) — Police fired tear gas and clashed with protesters in Paris and elsewhere on Saturday as hundreds of thousands marched across France against soaring living costs and police violence, with some demonstrators dressed as clowns and witches for Halloween.

While the third consecutive weekend of nationwide protests was largely peaceful, tensions erupted in several cities later Saturday.

After a march on the outskirts of Paris in bright sunshine, clashes broke out between police and some demonstrators as the procession reached its final destination.

Dozens of masked people dressed in black used hammers to pry up paving stones and hurl them at police. At least one incendiary device was also thrown at security forces. Police responded with tear gas and several baton charges.

“A hard core

of several hundred rioters” at the rear of the march attacked police with projectiles, including a Molotov cocktail, the police prefecture said. Officers were seeking “to restore public order”, it added.

In Lyon, France’s third-largest city, people threw projectiles at police, prompting officers to fire tear gas, according to a journalist at the scene.

In the southern city of Toulouse, police used water cannon against an unauthorised protest that drew several thousand people, mostly young demonstrators.

– ‘Dressed up as angry citizen’ –
Earlier Saturday, thousands of people, some wearing costumes ranging from Spider-Man to Frankenstein, walked through eastern Paris as a helicopter circled overhead.

Placards read: “No need for tear gas to make our future look bleak” and “Dressed up as an angry citizen for Halloween.”

“We say no to the cost of living, no to the far right, yes to high school students’ demands, yes to giving citizens a voice,” said Camille Guerin, 31, a demonstrator in the western city of Nantes.

Authorities said that some 320,000 people rallied across France including 70,000 in Paris.

According to youth organisations, nearly half a million people demonstrated across the country, including 200,000 in Paris.

An aide to Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on Friday that police had prepared for street violence on a scale “comparable” to the unrest two weeks ago, when shops were looted and public buildings set ablaze.

Between 400 and 800 hard-left activists were expected in Paris, said an informed source.

– Elections looming –
The demonstrations come in a febrile political climate, with presidential elections less than six months away and far-right leader Marine Le Pen topping opinion polls.

The protest movement, bringing together Yellow Vest activists, trade unions, and high school and university students, initially focused on the rising cost of living, inequality, and deteriorating learning conditions.

Following a security clampdown and serious injuries to some protesters, the movement broadened its demands to include greater protection of civil liberties and the right to protest.

Similar youth-led demonstrations have been seen across Europe in recent weeks.

Thousands of young Germans took to the streets nationwide on Saturday.

In the northern French city of Lille, 47-year-old Aurelie Herrmann danced at the protest.

“I dance because on television they only show damage and destruction, whereas you can perfectly well demonstrate in good spirits,” she said.

“Struggle is classy, it needs to come back into fashion.”

– New school blockades –
Student protesters complained the police did not authorise a march through the centre of the French capital and vowed to stage new blockades of high schools and universities next week.

“Starting this Tuesday, we will blockade our universities and high schools, and we will do so again on Thursday before joining the demonstration on November 5 called by workers and trade unions,” said Sabrine Kharbach, spokeswoman for the Union Etudiante (Student Union).

Ahead of the protests, some shopkeepers barricaded their businesses.

In eastern Paris, Wael Boubaker, a cafe employee, covered a storefront with plywood panels.

“Everyone is staying home. No one is going to come and buy anything,” Boubaker said.

Hard-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, who accused Macron’s government of “taking an increasingly authoritarian turn”, joined the march in Paris.

With the eurozone’s second-largest economy on the brink of recession and under pressure to rein in its debt, the government has limited scope to appease protesters through additional spending.

Nunez said authorities had detected social media calls for Halloween gatherings on Saturday evening that urged protesters to spark a “revolution”.