The Eiffel Tower is closed to the public because workers are protesting a recent rise in troublesome pickpockets. The Paris monument is normally open every day of the year and brings in thousands of visitors daily.
The Eiffel Tower in Paris was closed on Friday after staff went on strike to protest against pickpockets. They say cheat tourists “daily” and threaten staff.
“The Eiffel Tower is closed for the moment,” read the sign by one of the world’s most visited monuments. Staff said they could no longer bear the rising number of pickpockets on the city’s famous “iron lady”. There have been several attacks and threats recently.
Representatives of staff said they were powerless to prevent gangs of “between four to five” pickpockets, and “sometimes 30 on the monument” at any one time. They called on management to provide efficient measures to end the trouble that many tourists might get into every day. They said that rich Asian tourists were the most commonly targeted by the thieves.
The staff complained that that management only informed visitors of the risk but hadn’t taken strong measures to solve the problem. It has become troublesome for an internationally famous attraction. They suggested placing plain-clothed police around the attraction to “catch pickpockets in the act”. It said it was “sorry that visitors already present are being penalized” by the closure.
By late afternoon, the tower was reopened, but staff said this was “only temporary” and more strike action may follow in the coming days.
In 2013, staff at the Louvre museum refused to work for the same reason, forcing police to beef up patrols – a move that helped lower the number of thefts.
Inaugurated in 1889, the Eiffel Tower, which stands at 324 meters tall, welcomed seven million visitors last year, three quarters of them foreigners.
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