Why are they the new tourist attraction?

In FranceStruggles for Pension reform What drives the president Emmanuel Macron They created a new market for tourism. It’s about the piles of garbage that take over the city ParisAs a result of the strike by waste collection workers.

Tourists walking through the “City of Lights” are now not just taking photos Arc de Triomphe or Eiffel TowerBut they also make mountains of garbage that adorn the streets.

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Paris is covered in debris

On the banks of the Seine, debris obscures the view Notre Dame. To contemplate the famous cathedral in the heart of the capital, built between the 12th and 14th centuries and damaged in a fire in 2019, one must be brief.

Tourists love to see Eiffel Tower from Trocadero’s impressive esplanade, but when they exit the tunnel, they first have to pass through a wall of plastic bags. In the center, love alleys are filled with boxes and cartons, sometimes containing spoiled food.

In ParisMunicipal garbage collection workers began their strike a week ago, affecting half of the capital.

The City of Light, which is expected to receive 34.5 million tourists by 2022, according to officials, registers significant social discontent against a reform promoted by liberal President Emmanuel Macron, which is opposed by two out of three French people.

Garbage, Paris’ new tourist attraction

Martin Ruiz, an 18-year-old American, laments the smell: “It’s disgusting. It’s an unpleasant smell to eat or travel through the city,” he told AFP.

After organizing mass demonstrations in January and February to force the government to back down, unions stepped up their action last week with potentially extended strikes in key sectors such as energy and transport.

A total of 5,600 tons of trash piled up on the streets Monday, the mayor’s office said, and the amount is increasing every day. “Obviously, it’s not good for foreign tourists,” admits Jean-Francois Rial, head of the Paris convention and tourism office, but “it doesn’t damage the city’s image”.

“Even two weeks without garbage collection does not harm Naples,” says the man, adding that social conflicts will not take away “the number of tourists from this wonderful city.”