A woman wearing a yellow vest, as a symbol of French driver's and citizen's protest against higher fuel prices, waves a French flag during clashes with police November 24. Photo by Christophe Petit Tesson/EPA-EFE
Dec. 6 (UPI) -- Paris will shut down several museums and cultural sites this weekend in anticipation of more possible unrest stemming from another "yellow vest" protest.
The protest is still planned for Saturday, despite French President Emmanuel Macron agreeing to kill the planned fuel tax increase that sparked the demonstrations three weeks ago. Macron removed the tax from the 2019 budget after protests turned into a riot last weekend that led to hundreds of arrests and vandalism across Paris.
"I have no problem admitting that on such or such question we could have done differently, that if there is such a level of anger ... it's because we still have a lot of things to improve," Macron told legislators.
The fuel tax was meant to encourage French drivers to consume less fuel to slow the effects of climate change. But protesters will take to the streets again on other issues, as they feel Macron is out of touch as they cope with low wages, high taxes and high unemployment. After seeing Macron back down on the fuel tax, protesters including unions and farmers are hoping to get concessions of their own.
The threat of protests prompted several prominent tourist sites to close. The Eiffel Tower will remain open. The Arc de Triomphe will be closed Saturday. Some Metro stations and shops around the Champs-Elysees could also close.
The city is still encouraging tourists and Christmas shoppers to visit Paris.
"It's important to remember that the protests are only happening in a small area of the city and during a limited time frame," General manager of the Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau Corinne Menegaux told The Local. "It's a big city--there are a lot of [tourist sites] to visit that will be completely untouched by the protests and other things to see while easily being able to avoid what is going on in the center."
Menegaux said it's too early to tell what the protests will do to Paris' tourism industry.
"It's been a good year so far and it's a bit early to talk about what effects [of the protests] will be," she said. "So far, we haven't seen an unexpected dip in tourism, people are still booking. There is a lot of chaos in the world at the moment and I think people are used to it so it doesn't affect their holiday plans."
