Government spokesman Olivier Veran, who just over a week ago said he did not expect a "massive mobilisation", acknowledged Friday that there had been a "major" turnout.Even Macron, who was in Spain for a summit meeting on Thursday, felt compelled to break with the usual practice of side-stepping domestic issues while abroad.They are already organising their next day of action for January 31, hoping that further mass mobilisation and widespread strikes will force the government to back down."We will carry on until the reform plan is withdrawn," said Marie Buisson, secretary general of the powerful far-left CGT Education union, calling for "massive and strong strike action".Buisson said the next big protest day would be even bigger than on Thursday, when 40 percent of teachers were on strike, 45 percent of rail workers, half of staff at state-owned utility EDF and most workers at energy giant TotalEnergies."