News Digest

Eiffel Tower reopens after staff walk out over pickpockets

Paris’s iconic Eiffel Tower was shut to tourists on Friday as staff walked off to protest against a surge in gangs of pickpockets roaming around the monument. The closure of one of the busiest tourist attractions in the French capital ahead of a long holiday weekend recalls a similar strike at the Louvre museum in 2013 as staff protested against the often violent pickpockets stalking the halls of the palace. Workers at the 126-year-old iron lattice tower – a glittering symbol of Paris – finally went back to work at around 4:00 pm (1400 GMT), after hundreds of disappointed tourists were turned away throughout the day.

[The pickpockets] form a gang of 4/5 people. Sometimes there can be around 30 [at the monument].

Eiffel Tower staff statement

The statement from the workers said they want “formal guarantees from management that lasting and effective measures will be taken to end this scourge to which numerous tourists fall victim every day." No details were given about the agreement which saw workers return to their posts in the late afternoon.