The Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, was closed on Monday after staff went on strike to protest the exclusion of female workers during a visit by a Hindu religious group.

Visitors to the tower on Monday saw a message that says its opening is "delayed for operational reasons."

The staff released a statement in which they condemned "professional instructions that led to female employees being sidelined, replaced and made invisible because of their sex" during the religious group's visit.

Around 100 men from the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) spiritual movement were visiting the landmark.

The company that operates the Tower, SETE, said that the group had requested a visit as part of which the "interactions with women" would be limited.

Emmanuel Gregoire, Paris' Socialist mayor, called the incident "unacceptable."

"Equality between women and men will never end at the foot of our historic monuments, nor anywhere else in this city," Gregoire said.

SETE accepted that the decision was a mistake.

"These conditions should not have been accepted," SETE said.

Company head Ariel Weil told the AFP news agency  that SETE will "draw the necessary conclusions" from the case. Weil himself is an elected official in Paris.

"No motive of a religious order could justify a distinction based on gender or any other discriminatory consideration in welcoming the public," Weil wrote on his X account.

The Eiffel Tower sees some seven million visitors a year. It was closed all day due to the strike, but will open again on Tuesday, a staff representative said.

Edited by: Zac Crellin

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