SAEDNEWS: Strike Shuts Louvre, Leaving Visitors Disappointed Just Months After Daring Heist
Workers at the Louvre are demanding extra staff and measures to tackle overcrowding, compounding the challenges faced by the world’s most visited museum just as France prepares for the Christmas holidays.
The strike comes nearly two months after the museum was hit by a high-profile daylight heist in which crown jewels worth $102 million were stolen.
“We are closed,” a security agent told visitors on Monday morning, according to an AFP journalist. “Come back in a few hours.”
Around 400 employees voted unanimously to continue their strike at a general meeting, the CGT and CFDT unions said.
“I’m very disappointed, because the Louvre was the main reason for our visit in Paris—we wanted to see the ‘Mona Lisa,’” said 37-year-old Minsoo Kim, who traveled from Seoul to Paris with his wife for their honeymoon.
Natalia Brown, a 28-year-old tourist from London, shared the sentiment. “At the same time, I understand why they’re doing it—it’s just unfortunate timing for us.”
On the eve of the strike, Christian Galani of the hard-left CGT union said the action would receive broad support across the museum’s 2,200-strong workforce.
“We’re going to have a lot more strikers than usual,” Galani said. “Normally, it’s front-of-house and security staff. This time, there are scientists, documentarians, collections managers—even curators and colleagues in the workshops telling us they plan to strike.”
The grievances vary, but together they paint a picture of staff discontent, coming just as the Louvre remains in the public eye after the October 19 robbery.
Reception and security staff say they are understaffed and forced to manage huge crowds, with Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa drawing millions beyond the museum’s planned capacity each year.
A spontaneous walkout on June 16 temporarily closed the museum.
The Louvre has become a symbol of so-called “over-tourism,” with 30,000 daily visitors navigating what unions call an “obstacle course” of hazards, long lines, and substandard toilets and catering.
Documentarians and curators are increasingly alarmed by the building’s state of disrepair, highlighted by a recent water leak and the closure of a gallery due to structural issues.
“The building is not in a good state,” admitted chief Louvre architect Francois Chatillon during a parliamentary hearing last month.
Louvre director Laurence des Cars, under pressure to resign, warned the government in January in a widely publicized memo about leaks, overheating, and the declining visitor experience. Following this, President Emmanuel Macron announced a massive renovation plan for the museum, projected to cost 700–800 million euros (up to $940 million).
Questions persist about whether the robbery could have been prevented and why such a national treasure seemed so poorly protected. Two intruders used a portable extendable ladder to reach the crown jewels gallery, cutting through a glass door with angle grinders in front of stunned visitors before stealing eight priceless items.
Investigations revealed that only one security camera was working outside at the time, that guards in the control room lacked enough screens to monitor coverage in real time, and that police were initially misdirected.
Several studies over the past decade, including a 2019 audit by Van Cleef & Arpels experts, had highlighted serious security vulnerabilities. Their report stressed that the riverside balcony targeted by the thieves was a weak point, easily accessed with an extendable ladder—exactly what occurred during the heist.
