The Louvre, the most-visited museum in the world, came to a halt on Monday as staff members went on strike, protesting what they described as unmanageable tourist crowds.
Thousands of visitors hoping to view iconic works like the Mona Lisa faced long, stagnant lines outside the museum's famous glass pyramid entrance designed by I.M. Pei. The strike began unexpectedly after a routine staff meeting escalated into a walkout.
Employees—including security personnel, ticket clerks, and gallery attendants—refused to report to their posts, citing unbearable working conditions due to excessive visitor numbers, which they said were causing significant physical stress and making it increasingly difficult to manage day-to-day operations.
The Louvre Is Breaking Down
The recent strike at the Louvre has brought renewed attention to a deepening internal crisis, reflecting concerns previously raised during staff walkouts in 2013 and 2019. However, this time, frustrations among employees appear to have reached a tipping point.
The museum, which hosted more than 8.7 million visitors last year, is grappling with several critical issues. These include a lack of adequate rest areas for staff, limited on-site facilities, and an aging infrastructure that is increasingly ill-equipped to meet current demands.
Louvre President Laurence des Cars has also raised alarms over the condition of the building itself. In an internal memo cited by The Washington Post, she warned that certain parts of the museum are no longer waterproof, and that extreme temperature fluctuations pose a threat to the priceless artworks. She described the present-day environment for both visitors and staff as “a physical ordeal.”
The French President Emmanuel Macron recently announced a 10-year plan to fix the Louvre's problems. Macron unveiled a decade-long restoration initiative, the "Louvre New Renaissance," which promises a new entrance for the Mona Lisa - which alone draws around 20,000 visitors per day into the Salle des États, as reported by Associated Press.
While the plan promises to address long-term improvements, it does not address the museum's and the staff's immediate needs. The staff called the action hypocritical as Macron promotes new projects, but little is being done to fix the problem at hand.
The Louvre employees also don't want to wait years for relief. Workers argue that the state's operating subsidies for the museum have declined by over 20 percent in the last decade, but the number of visitors continues to increase.
One of the most iconic cultural spots is now caught in limbo, struggling to fix a problem that no one has a solution to, according to AP.
