The Eiffel Tower was shut down to visitors on Wednesday because of a strike over contract negotiations, the day the Paris monument marks 100 years since the death of its creator, Gustave Eiffel.
The strike was to protest “the current way it is managed”, the hard-left CGT union said in a statement.
The tower’s operator SETE was “headed for disaster”, it said.
The CGT said management was running the Eiffel Tower according to a business model that was “too ambitious and unsustainable” and said that was based on an inflated estimate of future visitor numbers, while underestimating construction costs.
SETE apologised to visitors, advising anyone with electronic tickets for Wednesday “to check their email” for more information on their booking.
Tourists can still access the glass-enclosed esplanade beneath the tower, but access to the 300-metre (984-foot) landmark itself is closed until further notice, according to an Eiffel Tower spokesperson.
The strike was declared ahead of contract negotiations with the city of Paris, which owns the 134-year-old monument, the spokesperson said. Union representatives did not immediately respond for comment, and it was unclear how long the strike would last.
Paris street vendors sell food stored in sewers, ‘mask smell with vanilla sugar’
Paris street vendors sell food stored in sewers, ‘mask smell with vanilla sugar’
One of the world’s most-visited sites, the Eiffel Tower is typically open 365 days a year – though it sees occasional strikes – and is expected to play a central role in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The attraction normally sees about 20,000 visitors per day this time of year, said the spokesperson, who was not authorised to be publicly named according to tower management policy.
Paris’s most famous landmark attracts nearly seven million visitors a year, around three-quarters of them foreigners, according to its website.
During the Covid pandemic numbers dropped sharply due to closures and travel restrictions, but recovered to 5.9 million in 2022.
The CGT said the tower’s management was basing its future budget on 7.4 million annual visitors, although “this level has never been reached”.
A special music show marking the death of Gustave Eiffel on December 27, 1923, was still scheduled to air on social networks and French television Wednesday night because it was recorded, the spokesperson said.