Louvre closes its doors and protests against mass tourism

Yesterday morning the workers went on a sudden strike.

As thousands of tourists queued in the Paris sunshine, Louvre staff rebelled against the constant barrage of visitors arriving every day. Numbers that cause the museum’s capacity to overflow, human resources to the limit and a working environment that, according to the CGT-Culture union, has become ‘unsustainable’. At around 2.30 p.m. the Louvre reopened its doors, resuming normal activity.

Earlier this year, Emmanuel Macron announced a 10-year plan to renovate the museum. He promised to fix leaks, modernise infrastructure, control temperatures and, most importantly, tidy up access. However, the staff are asking for immediate help: a decade is too long.

‘We can’t wait six years for help,’ says Sarah Sefian of the union.