Staff at the Eiffel Tower have gone on strike in protest against a new access policy they say is generating “monstrous” queues of tourists.

Access to the Parisian monument, which welcomed more than 6 million visitors last year, was blocked from 2pm GMT, according to a sign at the base of the tower.

The site’s management said staff had taken action after talks with unions broke down earlier on Wednesday afternoon. The site was not evacuated, and tourists already inside were allowed to finish their visits.



Staff are angry over a decision last month to start setting aside half of the Eiffel Tower’s daily tickets for people who buy them in advance online and schedule a time for their visit.

Only 20% of tickets to go up the 324-metre (1,063ft) “Iron Lady” could previously be booked ahead of time.

The tower’s management has also started reserving specific lifts for each type of ticket holder, a move that “creates lines that are at times monstrous and often lopsided,” the CGT union said.

During off-peak times for pre-booked tickets, such as the early afternoon, the reserved lift might be half empty despite queues of up to three hours for walk-in visitors.

High demand at the lift for pre-booked ticket holders also means people have to wait long beyond their scheduled visit time.

Hector had travelled from Monterey, Mexico, with his wife and children for their first trip to France, and was just about to reach the lifts when the doors shut. “We’ve been here for two and a half hours, waiting for nothing,” he said.

“We will take a look for tomorrow, but we will need to buy another ticket,” he said, because pre-booked tickets will only be reimbursed, not exchanged for another time slot.

“Employees’ patience has run out,” the CGT’s Denis Vavassori said on Monday, adding that many visitors were unhappy with the long waits. Staff want all lifts to be available to all visitors, no matter what kind of ticket they have bought.

SETE, the company that runs the site, says it sells 10,000 online tickets for the tower each day and that “the waiting time is very short”.

“For visitors who come without tickets, the waiting time at the checkouts at the foot of the Eiffel Tower is exactly the same as last year, while the number of visitors has increased,” it said.

The tower has been hit by repeated strikes by its 300-strong staff in recent years over issues ranging from pick-pockets to maintenance work.