PARIS – One of the globe’s most recognizable tourist landmarks, the Eiffel Tower, welcomed visitors again on Tuesday, just 24 hours after a worker strike shut down the iconic site over what union leaders described as unacceptable management orders. The action was triggered by a demand to restrict female staff presence during a weekend visit from a Hindu religious delegation.
Diane Davoine, a representative of France’s CGT union, told the Associated Press that resentment built rapidly among Eiffel Tower employees through the weekend after site management issued the directive: female workers were ordered to avoid any direct contact with the visiting group from Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, better known by its acronym BAPS.
BAPS is a global religious and civic organization affiliated with the Swaminarayan tradition, a major branch of Hinduism. The delegation was in Paris to mark the inauguration of a new traditional stone Hindu temple in the French capital.
In an official statement released Monday evening, BAPS extended a public apology to all those who were offended or disrupted by the incident. “We are deeply committed to the universal values of mutual respect and service to others,” the organization said. “We respect the concerns raised and take them very seriously.”
Officials from the Eiffel Tower’s operating company have not yet issued any public comment on the controversy. The 137-year-old iron lattice monument draws roughly 7 million visitors from across the globe every year, making it one of the most-visited paid tourist sites on Earth.
Davoine noted that the Eiffel Tower regularly accommodates high-profile special delegations, from sitting heads of state like former U.S. President Donald Trump to visiting European royalty and A-list celebrities such as pop star Britney Spears, and staff have always been willing to adjust protocols for special events. But Saturday’s instructions, she emphasized, were extraordinary and crossed a line into unacceptable territory.
Paris Deputy Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire, who made the announcement on the social platform X, confirmed that city officials would open a formal investigation into the incident. “Gender equality will never stop at the foot of our historic monuments, or anywhere else in this city,” Grégoire said. “It must apply everywhere and to everyone. I will ensure that it does — everywhere, without exception.”
This is not the first time industrial action has disrupted operations at the landmark. In February 2024, a six-day strike closed the tower entirely, as workers walked off the job to demand improved infrastructure maintenance for the aging site and wage increases for staff.