La Jornada: In Paris, the Eiffel Tower and other museums close due to heat wave

Paris. The Eiffel Tower and other iconic sites in Paris announced early closures this weekend due to high temperatures, while a quarter of France is under red alert amid the third heat wave since May.

The operator of the Eiffel Tower reported that the monument “will close exceptionally” this Saturday and Sunday at 4 p.m. due to the “predicted high temperatures.”

The Iron Lady, which attracts about 7 million tourists each year, usually stays open until after midnight during the summer.

The two most famous cultural venues in the French capital, the Louvre and the Orsay, took similar measures. The first will close at 4 p.m. until Monday, while the second will close at 5 p.m. until Wednesday.

Twenty-four regions, where 22.2 million people live according to an AFP estimate, were yesterday at the maximum alert level issued by the national meteorological service Méteo-France. These include Paris and its metropolitan area.

Another 59 districts were on orange alert, as people crowded trains and roads at the start of a long weekend, before the July 14 holiday.

Across France, many cities gave up typical national holiday fireworks due to increasing fires and drought conditions.

In this context, fires multiply. More than 25 thousand hectares have burned since the beginning of the year, almost double what was recorded in the same period of 2025, according to Civil Security.