Paris's Louvre shuts down as anti-tourism protests spread through Europe

The Louvre Museum closed after staff walked out over overcrowding, decaying infrastructure and deep funding cuts, leaving visitors locked out in protest

The Louvre Museum, the world’s most visited museum in Paris, France, abruptly shut its doors on Monday after staff staged a spontaneous strike over chronic overcrowding, understaffing and crumbling conditions, leaving thousands of ticket-holders locked outside the world’s most popular museum.

 

Employees across departments, from security to ticketing, halted work during an internal meeting, citing unmanageable pressures brought on by mass tourism, the Associated Press reported. Many described working conditions as a “cultural pressure cooker”, worsened by government underfunding and unchecked visitor numbers.

 

Mona Lisa gallery overcrowding adds to safety concerns

Central to the crisis is the Salle des États, where up to 20,000 visitors a day gather to view the Mona Lisa. Despite a cap of 30,000 total visitors per day, the museum regularly operates over capacity. Staff report heat exhaustion, a lack of basic facilities, and safety risks. All of this is further exacerbated under the glass pyramid designed by IM Pei.

 

An internal memo from Louvre president Laurence des Cars warned that parts of the building are no longer watertight, and temperature fluctuations are placing priceless works at risk. She described the museum as a “physical ordeal” for both staff and guests.

 

Delayed restoration plan adds to Louvre staff frustration

Tensions have mounted just months after President Emmanuel Macron announced a €700–800 million, decade-long restoration scheme dubbed the ‘Louvre New Renaissance’. The plan includes a new Mona Lisa gallery and a second entrance near the Seine. But staff say those upgrades will take years, while the daily burden is already unsustainable.

 

While a limited ‘masterpieces route’, including access to the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo, may briefly open, a full reopening is not expected until Wednesday. Tuesday closures are standard.

 

Funding cuts and symbolic politics fuel staff grievances

Union officials say the strike highlights long-standing neglect. Over the past decade, state funding for Louvre operations has fallen by more than 20 per cent, even as attendance has rebounded post-pandemic. Unlike Notre-Dame or the Centre Pompidou, the Louvre relies heavily on ticket sales, private donors and international licensing, including revenue from the Louvre Abu Dhabi.

 

Staff also criticised Macron for using the museum as a political backdrop, from his 2017 election victory to last year’s Olympics, without backing that symbolism with investment.

 

Tourism backlash spreads across southern Europe

The walkout comes amid a broader wave of anti-tourism unrest across southern Europe. In cities including Barcelona, Lisbon and Palma de Mallorca, residents staged protests against rising rents, environmental degradation and what they see as the erasure of local life. In Barcelona, demonstrators sprayed tourists with water pistols in a symbolic call to “cool down” overtourism. Protesters elsewhere carried mock coffins for local culture, blocked tour buses and paraded rolling suitcases through historic centres.

 

However, protesters and workers alike insist that their message is not anti-tourist, but anti-neglect.

 

For the Louvre and cultural landmarks across Europe, the question is no longer how to welcome the world, but how to survive it.