One of the world’s most iconic landmarks, Paris’s Eiffel Tower, was forced to shut its doors to all visitors on Monday following a widespread staff strike, triggered by a controversial incident that saw female employees asked to step back from their posts to accommodate a visiting Hindu religious delegation. The confrontation unfolded over the weekend, when a 100-member delegation from the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), a global Hindu spiritual organization, toured the monument ahead of the Sunday consecration of the group’s first major French temple in the Paris suburbs. Union representatives detailed that ahead of the delegation’s arrival, on-site management instructed all female staff to vacate their public-facing work positions, which were instead filled by male employees to comply with the group’s request to limit interactions between the delegation and women. Diane Davoine, a representative for the striking staff union, told reporters that the incident left female workers feeling humiliated and disrespected, with tensions simmering across the weekend before workers voted to launch strike action on Monday morning. “This was unacceptable to every employee, and especially to the women who were forced out of their jobs simply because of their gender,” Davoine said, adding that workers are demanding formal guarantees that no similar incident will ever occur at the site, alongside open negotiations with management over how the situation was handled. SETE, the state-linked company that operates the Eiffel Tower, has publicly acknowledged that the request from the BAPS delegation should never have been approved. In statements to Agence France-Presse, the firm confirmed the request for gender-segregated arrangements, noting that the terms “were not in line with SETE’s values, nor with the principles of equality between men and women.” SETE president Ariel Weil emphasized that the organization’s commitment to French republican values of gender equality is non-negotiable, calling the decision to accommodate the request “clearly not an acceptable practice.” In a public statement posted to the social platform X, the BAPS Paris temple pushed back on framing the incident as a deliberate demand for gender exclusion, noting that the private visit was arranged outside of peak public hours in coordination with Eiffel Tower management to avoid disrupting general tourist access. The group apologized “for any pain or inconvenience caused”, adding that it “believes in the universal values of mutual respect and service”. On its official website, BAPS describes itself as a volunteer-led spiritual movement focused on community improvement aligned with Hindu values, with a global network of temples across major cities including London, Los Angeles and Sydney. The incident has quickly ignited fierce cross-party political outcry across France, with senior leaders from across the ideological spectrum uniting in condemnation of the arrangement. Paris deputy mayor Emmanuel Grégoire announced that a full formal investigation will be launched into how the request was approved, writing on X that “Equality between women and men will never stop at the foot of our historical monuments, nor anywhere in this city. It must be applied everywhere, for everyone.” He also affirmed that the anger of Eiffel Tower staff is fully legitimate. Far-right National Rally leader Marine Le Pen stated, “In France, we will never accept that the presence of women be ‘limited’.” Gabriel Attal, the former center-right prime minister and presumptive 2027 presidential candidate, added, “In France, no culture, no belief, no worship, nothing nor anyone can come to dictate to women their place.” Yaël Braun-Pivet, president of France’s National Assembly, echoed those sentiments, saying, “I refuse to allow women to be compelled to step aside in order to meet the demands of foreign visitors.” As of Monday, a temporary sign posted at the Eiffel Tower entrance cited “operational reasons” for the delayed opening, with no clear timeline for when the landmark will resume normal visitor operations as negotiations between staff and management get underway.