The Eiffel Tower, symbol of the city of Paris and one of the most visited monuments in the world, is closed to the public on Wednesday during the tourist season following a strike by its employees, announced the site’s operator.
The employees of the Eiffel Tower decided on this one-day strike, organized on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the death of the engineer Gustave Eiffel, and in the middle of the end-of-year tourist period.
Employees denounce “the current management which leads the SETE straight ahead [la société d’exploitation] into the wall”, according to the press release from a CGT union.
The union organization denounces in particular “a model [économique] too ambitious and untenable” due to an “under-evaluation of the works budgets” of the monument, but also an “over-evaluation of revenues based on annual attendance targets of 7.4 million visitors”, i.e. “levels attendance never reached. »
In 2022, the Eiffel Tower welcomed nearly 5.9 million visitors, according to figures from the operating company, a record since 2019 and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The union warns in particular of the significant increase in the amount of maintenance and restoration work on the monument which “drifts in an uncontrolled and unbearable manner for the financial balances of SETE”, estimating the cost of the work to be carried out at 352 million euros, i.e. “an increase of 128 million euros since 2019”.
Built in 1889 for the Paris Universal Exhibition, the Eiffel Tower quickly became a symbol of France and its capital.
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