The Eiffel Tower closes for the third consecutive day due to a strike: “Climbing was our highlight”

“Due to a strike, the Eiffel Tower is closed.

We apologize.”

The message, in Spanish, shines on a small black screen, placed at one of the entrances to the emblematic monument.

Its workers have been protesting since Monday, three days ago, to denounce a model that they consider unsustainable.

The criticism is directed at the Paris City Council, the majority shareholder of the operating company, and highlights an imbalance that exists between income and expenses, which according to the strikers affects the maintenance of this symbol of the French capital, which attracted more than six million visitors in 2023.

The doors of the iron structure, 330 meters high and weighing more than 10,000 tons, are usually open 365 days a year.

But even closed, the monument attracts countless tourists, most of them foreigners.

These days' closure is the second in two months.

And despite the warnings on the website, hundreds of people walked around it on Tuesday, frustrated at not having been able to go up and admire one of the best panoramic views of the city.

Among them were the Mexicans Mildredt, Evelin and Alejandra Hernández, aged 32, 29 and 15.

“It's a shame, because we come from very far away.

Tomorrow we're leaving,” they lamented.

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A few meters away, a group of Spanish students waited impatiently with printed tickets in hand.

“We are very upset,” said Amanda Clavell, the French teacher who co-organized the school trip.

“Climbing the Eiffel Tower was the highlight,” said Carla Masegosa, her colleague, specifying that they had everything prepared since October.

At the entrances, hostesses in red vests explained the reasons for the strike to tourists and said they did not know how long it would last.

In five months, the French capital will host the Olympic Games.

The two unions of the tower's staff, the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) and Fuerza Obrera (FO), denounce that the management company is more concerned with making money than with maintaining the monument, built by engineer Gustave Eiffel in 1889 to the Universal Exhibition in Paris.

Unionist flags around the monument. Associated Press/LaPresse (APN)

In particular, they criticize the increase in the amount that this company must pay each year to its majority shareholder, the Paris City Council, at a time when its finances have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The municipality owns 99% of the capital of SETE (Eiffel Tower Exploitation Company), which operates the building within the framework of a public service delegation.

The contract was signed in 2017 and extends until 2030.

The amounts that must be paid to the council went from eight million euros in 2021 to 16 million in 2022, and may reach 50 million in the coming years, with a 20% increase in entry prices, according to the CGT.

In 2022, the turnover was 106 million euros.

The demands of the plants occur at a key moment, since SETE, with about 350 employees, renegotiates the conditions with the council.

The City Council, governed by the socialist Anne Hidalgo, has already reinforced the capital of the concessionaire with 60 million euros, in response to the losses caused by the health crisis, of about 120 million euros.

“What worries us is maintenance”

Denis Vavassori, CGT union delegate, was arguing on Tuesday with two of his colleagues at the foot of the tower, visible from all of Paris.

“What worries us a lot is the maintenance of the monument because there is still a lot of work to do,” explained the man, who is part of the technical service of this tourist attraction.

“The great fear is that this amount [to be paid to the City Council] threatens the proper functioning of the works,” added the striker, who has been working at the site for 21 years.

The unions emphasize the investments that will be needed in the coming years, especially for elevators and painting.

And they point to the extra cost that the renovations have entailed.

The iron of the structure is covered by a thick layer of paint, which must be renewed every seven years to protect it from corrosion.

Tourists see the closed Eiffel Tower from afar.Associated Press/LaPresse (APN)

Gustave Eiffel himself, in a book, had insisted on the importance of this to preserve a metallic work.

In view of the Olympic Games, the monument undertook a twentieth campaign to return to the 'yellow-brown' color it had in 1907. But so far, only 30% of the structure has been painted, according to the CGT.

“The root of the problem is the in-depth maintenance of the monument, which is aging (...).

It is really urgent to act in this area,” continued Vavassori.

Since its inauguration, the Eiffel Tower has received more than 300 million visitors.

Currently, it welcomes about 17,000 visitors a day and in 2023, the level of attendance will exceed that before Covid-19.

The unions insist that costs are underestimated and that the City Council overestimates income, based on the number of people who visit the site each year.

Neither the municipality nor the management company have responded to this newspaper's requests for comment.

Meanwhile, the Parisian emblem continues to be a magnet for travelers from all over the world, who come to the place to take photos and selfies, with the sound of a trumpet player in the background.

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