During the Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer, giant Olympic rings appeared on a popular landmark. The capital’s mayor, Anne Hidalgo, encouraged by the success of the Games, said this version of the decoration should adorn the tower until the next Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.
The debate over whether the Olympics logo will remain on the Eiffel Tower for long has taken a new turn, with a French government minister proposing that control of the monument be handed over to the city of Paris.
But the proposal has divided opinion both in the French capital and at the highest levels of government. It has already been heavily criticised by descendants of the tower’s designer, Gustave Eiffel, as well as environmental organisations.
Late last month, workers removed 30-tonne steel rings that were first installed in June between the tower’s first and first floors.
Hidalgo had advocated that lighter, less prominent versions of the originals be installed in their place. But even such a softened proposal is too much to irritate sceptics, some of whom are also Hidalgo’s bitter political enemies. The Socialist mayor has infuriated opponents with ambitious projects to crack down on cyclists and cars, as well as a recent decision to lower the speed limit on Paris’s ring road, the Peripherique.
One of her most prominent critics is a politician Rachida Dati, who, as leader of the opposition in Paris City Hall, often aligns herself with Hidalgo. Having failed in a previous attempt, she is expected to run for mayor again in 2026 in the next municipal election.
Last month, Dati was reappointed culture minister in Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s government. The position allows her to have a major influence over listed buildings and their protection.
On Tuesday, she announced that she had asked for the Eiffel Tower to be added to the state’s list of cultural heritage buildings. If the request is granted, it would effectively take control of work on the tower away from the city and its rival Hidalgo, putting it in the hands of the central government.
Dati told daily Le Parisien that the tower’s current status as an ordinary monument is no longer enough. She said only its inclusion on the French state’s top heritage list for sites of national importance would provide “real protection.”
Any work carried out on a building or monument with full heritage status requires the approval of the regional prefect, who reports to the government, or other public institutions.
If Hidalgo rejects Dati’s request to have the tower listed as a state heritage site, Dati said she would achieve the change “by force.” On Tuesday, when asked about the initiative, Hidalgo said the Eiffel Tower is already “very, very well protected.”
Dati’s remarks also drew the ire of SETE, the company that manages the Eiffel Tower, which is majority owned by the city of Paris. SETE president Jean-Francois Martins told AFP that the culture minister has the right to ask for heritage status if a site is threatened. He said:
“But this is not the case with the Eiffel Tower. The company has embarked on the most extensive painting in history of the tower, refurbished lifts and improved accessibility.”
Hidalgo, in power since 2014, also wants to preserve other symbols of the competition, such as the cauldron placed in front of the Louvre museum and statues of famous women placed in the Seine River during the opening ceremony.
