Eiffel Tower to reopen after protest over removing women staff

What the report says

The Eiffel Tower is expected to reopen after staff walked out over a weekend visit by a Hindu religious delegation that had asked for interactions with women to be limited. According to Al Jazeera, the operating company for the Paris landmark, SETE, said those conditions should not have been accepted and that the issue was discussed in a meeting between management and staff.

The dispute centered on reports that female employees were moved away from certain posts, replaced in some areas, or told not to cross specific sections while the delegation was present. Eiffel Tower staff condemned what they described as instructions that sidelined women because of their sex, and they said they were shocked by the situation. The reopening was reported as planned for Tuesday after the internal meeting.

The Hindu organisation involved, Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, or BAPS, apologised for any inconvenience and said no one had been denied access to the tower. It said the visit was organised at the start of normal opening hours to avoid disruption, given the size of the group.

The incident drew criticism in France, including from Paris Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire, who said an investigation should begin soon, and from National Assembly President Yael Braun-Pivet, who said welcoming visitors should not require women to be made invisible. The episode has also highlighted tensions around religious accommodation, workplace equality, and public standards at one of Paris’s best-known landmarks.