The Louvre in Paris closes unexpectedly as the protest conditions of the staff

The Louvre, the most visited museum in the world and a global symbol of art, beauty and resistance, closed on Monday, not by war, not for terror, but by its own exhausted staff, which says that the institution is falling apart from the inside.

It was an almost unthinkable view: the home of the works of Leonardo da Vinci and the greatest treasures of civilization, paralyzed by the same people in charge of welcoming the world to their galleries.

The spontaneous strike broke out during an internal routine meeting, since gallery attendees, ticket agents and security personnel refused to take their positions in protests on immanent multitudes, little chronic personnel and what a union called “unsustainable” working conditions.

It is something strange that the Louvre closes its doors to the public. It has happened during the war, during the pandemic, and in a handful of strikes, including spontaneous strikes about overcrowding in 2019 and security fears in 2013. But it has rarely felt like this: tourists who cover the square, tickets in hand, without a clear explanation of why the museum had stopped, without prior notice, simply stopped.

“It’s Mona Lisa’s groan here,” said Kevin Ward, 62, from Milwaukee, one of the thousands of confused visitors cornered in motionless lines under IM PEI’s glass pyramid. “Thousands of people waiting, without communication, without explanation. I think she even needs a day off.”

The moment felt bigger than a labor protest. The Louvre has become Global Expobedurism – A golden palace overwhelmed by its own popularity. As tourist magnets from Venice to the Acropolis Scrable to limit the crowds, the most emblematic museum in the world is reaching its own calculation.

The interruption occurs only months after President Emmanuel Macron released a sweep decadel plan To rescue the Louvre of precisely the problems that they now hurt: water leaks, dangerous temperature changes, obsolete infrastructure and pedestrian traffic much beyond what the museum can handle. But for workers in the field, that promised future feels distant.

“We cannot wait six years to get help,” said Sarah Sefian from the CGT Culture Union. “Our teams are under pressure now. It’s not just about art, it’s about the people who protect it.”

She said that what began as a scheduled monthly information session “became a massive expression of exasperation.” The conversations between workers and administration began at 10:30 am and continued until the afternoon. From the afternoon, the museum remained closed.

The Louvre welcomed 8.7 million visitors last year, more than double what its infrastructure was designed to accommodate. Even with a daily limit of 30,000, the staff says that the experience has become a daily resistance test, with very few rest areas, limited bathrooms and summer heat expanded by the greenhouse effect of the pyramid.

In the center of everything, as always, there is Mona Lisa, a portrait of the 16th century that attracts the modern crowds more similar to a celebrity meeting than an artistic experience. Approximately 20,000 people a day get in the Salle des Ethats, the largest room in the museum, just to take a selfie with the enigmatic woman of Leonardo da Vinci behind the protective glass. The scene is often noisy, pushed and so dense that many barely look at the masterpieces that flank it, work as Tiziano and Veronese that are largely ignored.

“You don’t see a painting,” said Ji-Hyun Park, 28, who flew from Seoul to Paris. “You see phones. You see. You feel heat. And then, you are pushed.”

Macron’s renewal plan, called the “Louvre New Renacisance”, promises a remedy. The Mona Lisa will finally get her own dedicated room, accessible through a timed input ticket. 2031 A new entrance is also placed near the Sena River to relieve the pressure of the overwhelmed pyramid center.

In a filtered memorandum, the president of the Louncence des Cars warned that parts of the building “are no longer airtight”, that temperature fluctuations endanger disabling art, and that even the basic needs of visitors (food, bathrooms, signage) fall well below international standards. She described the experience simply as “a physical test.”

“We have problems with the building,” DES Cars acknowledged to News themezone earlier this year. She said the problems are partly due to age, since the palace that houses the museum was initially built in the early thirteenth century.

“It’s nine centuries of history, in the heart of Paris and in the heart of the history of France,” said Des Cars.

He also said that one of the objectives of renewal is to improve the flow of visitors, so that people can find the collections that most easily see “and also discover the wonders of the Louvre.”

The total renewal plan is expected to be projected from 700 million to 800 million euros (around $ 810 million to $ 930 million), it will be financed through tickets for tickets, private donations, state funds and license fees of the Abu Dhabi branch of the Louvre. Input prices for tourists who are not from the EU are expected to increase at the end of this year.

• Paris
• Museums
• France
• The Louvre