Tons of garbage “choke” Paris – Mountains of bags next to attractions and bistros (video – photos)

The City of Light, with 34.5 million tourists in 2022, has been the victim of a protest movement over Emmanuel Macron’s government’s reform of the pension system, which includes raising the retirement age.

In the world’s most visited city, a strike by collection services to protest pension reform is littering the tourist promenades.

According to municipal authority estimates, since March 11, when the strike began – about 4,000 tons of garbage have accumulated on the streets of Paris.

Garbage bins are overflowing and bags line the streets of Paris as workers continue to strike over pension reform. As of March 11, approximately 4k tons of trash were awaiting collection, a spokesperson for the Paris mayor’s office said. pic.twitter.com/3MThAnL8HL

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) March 14, 2023

Parisians go to work walking past the overflowing bins on every corner of the city, and tourists-visitors take selfies in front of the mountains of garbage, which block the view and hide the iconic monuments of Paris.

On the banks of the Seine, in the shadow of Notre Dame, to reach the imposing cathedral in the heart of the French capital, one must first fight the dirt.

Visitors who want to admire the Eiffel Tower from the Trocadero esplanade as they exit the metro run into a wall of black bags.

The streets of Paris fill with trash as workers continue to strike against President Macron’s pension reforms. pic.twitter.com/mvLrdCCvcz

— DW News (@dwnews) March 13, 2023

In the center of the city, the once romantic streets are littered with boxes, cages, leftovers…

Tourists say they are disappointed – even disgusted – but Jean-Francois Rial, president of the Paris Convention and Tourism Organization, says “this episode will not affect tourism in Paris”.

“Obviously, it’s not the best for foreign visitors,” he admits, but “even two weeks without garbage collection didn’t hurt the image of Naples.”

“I’ve never seen this in Canada,” says Omera, a pink-haired Canadian, who has just photographed a mountain of garbage in Saint-Michel, in the heart of the Latin Quarter. And he makes a prediction: “This will drive tourists away. They won’t come again!”

Martin Ruiz, an 18-year-old Texan, resents the smell: “It’s disgusting.”

At the Opera, Ángeles Mosqueda declares himself very disturbed by the display, while the German Claudia Harmand attempts a slalom among the piles of garbage that “somewhat spoils the charm” of the city. “It’s not amazing either.”

For Mark, a tourist from Kansas, who pushes his baby’s stroller next to the garbage, “strikes don’t change anything. If you have to retire later, so be it.” Britain’s Olivia Stevenson says instead that “strikes must be supported everywhere”, in France as in England.

With information from RES-MPE