"Block Everything" protesters in Toulouse, France, on September 10, 2025. VINCENT NGUYEN/RIVA PRESS FOR LE MONDE
The Bloquons Tout ("Block Everything") protests around France on Wednesday, September 10, involved some 175,000 participants (according to the government) and 250,000 (according to the CGT, France's largest trade union). Some 812 actions, including 550 rallies and 262 blockades, took place. In total, there were 540 arrests and 415 people held in police custody. Beyond the numbers, what can we take away from "Block Everything"? Our journalists, who were on the ground, answered questions from Le Monde readers during a live chat on Thursday.
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France's 'Block Everything' protests converge around ousting Macron
Guerre des chiffres: You systematically report the number of participants provided by the Interior Ministry (175,000), but not always those put forward by the CGT (250,000) or La France Insoumise [radical left, LFI] (500,000). Yet many protestors pointed out that the prefectures' counts were lower than the reality, especially since they are not necessarily more impartial than the CGT or LFI when it comes to counting. What was the impression of your reporters on the ground regarding the number of participants?
