Los paros de la recogida de la basura, que se prolongando de forma uninterruptida desde comienzos de la semana pasada en 10 de los 20 districts de Paris, han dado lugar a la accumulation de 5,600 toneladas de residues, según las cifras dadas por el Ayuntamiento Monday

“I’ve never seen that,” wondered a Canadian. In Paris, the most visited city in the world, tourists must dodge the rubbish piled up in its emblematic places by a collectors’ strike against an unpopular pension reform.

On the banks of the Seine, debris blocks the view of Notre-Dame. To contemplate the famous cathedral built between the 12th and 14th centuries in the heart of the capital and damaged by a fire in 2019, you have to disregard it.

Tourists want to see the Eiffel Tower from the impressive Trocadero esplanade, but when they get out of the metro, they first have to walk through a wall of plastic bags. In the center, the once romantic alleys are littered with boxes and boxes, sometimes spoiled food.
Tourists want to see the Eiffel Tower from the impressive Trocadero esplanade, but when they get out of the metro, they first have to walk through a wall of plastic bags. In the center, the once romantic alleys are littered with boxes and boxes, sometimes spoiled food.

“I’ve never seen this in Canada,” said Omera, a Canadian tourist with dyed pink hair, just after taking a photo of the garbage piled up in Saint Michel, in the Latin Quarter. “This will scare away tourists! “, he predicts.

In addition to this pile of visible waste, three garbage incinerators in the Parisian metropolis are paralyzed
In addition to this pile of visible waste, three garbage incinerators in the Parisian metropolis are paralyzed

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

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“The smell is unpleasant to be able to eat or walk around the city,” adds Ángeles Mosqueda, a Mexican tourist, who wears a purple beret in front of the Paris Opera.

The German Claudia Harmand, accompanied by her “darling” Frenchman, explains the improbable “slalom in the garbage”, which “spoils the charm of the city a little”. “It’s not great,” he admits, smiling.

The cold prevented the situation from getting worse, because the garbage does not smell as bad as with high temperatures
The cold prevented the situation from getting worse, because the garbage does not smell as bad as with high temperatures

The City of Light, which welcomed some 34.5 million tourists in 2022 according to the authorities, is recording significant social discontent against a reform promoted by liberal President Emmanuel Macron, which is opposed by two out of three French people.

To force the government to back down, the unions intensified their actions last week with renewable strikes in key sectors such as energy and transport, after staging massive demonstrations in January and February.

The problem is not limited to garbage collection, but pickets block access to the three waste incinerators of the Paris metropolis in Issy les Moulineaux, Ivry sur Seine and Saint Ouen
The problem is not limited to garbage collection, but pickets block access to the three waste incinerators of the Paris metropolis in Issy les Moulineaux, Ivry sur Seine and Saint Ouen
In Paris, municipal waste collection workers began their strike more than a week ago, which affects half of the capital
In Paris, municipal waste collection workers began their strike more than a week ago, which affects half of the capital

One of them, Nabil Latreche, 44, denounces the fact of having to work more years, despite a “painful” job. “We work rain, snow or wind (…) When we are behind the truck, we breathe volatile things. We have a lot of occupational diseases, “he says.

When I retire, “I know I will live poor” with a maximum pension of 1,200 euros, laments Murielle Gaeremynck, a 56-year-old woman who has been a garbage collector for two decades.

His colleagues from private companies, which operate in the rest of the capital, are facing the blockage of incineration plants. A total of 5,600 tonnes of waste accumulated in the streets on Monday, according to the town hall, a volume that is increasing every day.

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On vacation in Paris, thousands of tourists find themselves immersed in the French social conflict. For Mark, from the US state of Kansas, empathy is relative. “The strike will not change anything. If you have to retire later, then do so,” says the man, pushing his baby’s stroller.

Britain’s Olivia Stevenson, for her part, supports strikes “anywhere”, whether in France or the recent ones in her country. Garbage in Paris “spoils sight and smell”, but “retirement and salary are important for many people”, he explains.

The French government, harassed in the streets for its pension reform two days after the final vote on its bill, is trying to use the garbage collection strike, which particularly affects part of the city of Paris, to attack the opposition
The French government, harassed in the streets for its pension reform two days after the final vote on its bill, is trying to use the garbage collection strike, which particularly affects part of the city of Paris, to attack the opposition

“Obviously, this is not the best thing for foreign tourists”, recognizes Jean-François Rial, the president of the Paris Convention and Tourism Office, but “it will not harm the ‘image’ of the city. “Even two weeks without garbage collection had not harmed Naples”, assures the man, for whom the social conflict will have no impact “on the tourist frequentation of this wonderful city”.

The next big day of protest – which will be the eighth since the government revealed the details of its plan to modify access to retirement last January – is called by all the unions for next Wednesday.

Today marks the start of the home stretch of the parliamentary pension reform process, after the Senate, where the right is in the majority, adopted the proposal last night.

(With AFP and EFE information, AFP, Reuters and EFE photos)

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The impact of protests in France reached Paris 2024
Massive demonstration in France on the seventh day against the pension reform

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