Eiffel Tower reopens after strike against discrimination of employees

A eiffel tower, which received 6.75 million visitors in 2025, reopened as planned at 9.30 a.m. (8.30 a.m. in Lisbon), advanced the France-Presse news agency (AFP).

The Hindu spiritual movement Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), criticized as conservative and nationalist by some members of the Indian diaspora, inaugurated on Sunday the first great temple in France, in the city of Bussy-Saint-Georges, 30 kilometres from Paris.

This temple, or “send”, is to be considered the largest Hindu temple built in continental Europe in traditional style.

For the occasion, a motorcade took a boat trip along the Seine River on Saturday and visited the Eiffel Tower. However, according to a statement issued by the CGT union, instructions were given to the Tower administration that “they led to the removal, replacement and invisibility of employees due to gender”.

This situation, described as “serious and deeply contrary to the values of equality and non-discrimination”, led officials to strike.

On Monday, the monument remained closed while meetings were held between the administration and the employees.

The Eiffel Tower operator (SETE) acknowledged that the Hindu delegation had requested that the visit be organised to limit “interactions with women” and admitted that “these conditions should not have been accepted”.

“It is unacceptable that the conditions” required by the Hindu delegation “had been tolerated”, responded the President of the Socialist Chamber of Paris, Emmanuel Grégoire, on social networks, adding that an investigation would be “started as soon as possible”.

“ We will clarify what happened and draw the necessary conclusions,” Ariel Weil, President of the SETE and elected Parisian socialist politician, told AFP.

The Paris BAPS, in turn, apologized, but slowed down criticism.

“ As far as we know, no access to the Eiffel Tower was denied to anyone,” said the Paris BAPS on social media on Monday night.

“ We wish, however, to offer our sincere apologies to all who may have been hurt or disturbed by this situation,” he added, specifying that the visit took place “at the beginning of normal working hours, in order to minimize any inconvenience for other visitors”.