The Louvre shuts down to protests

The Louvre art museum in Paris closed on Monday, June 16, for 4 hours because the staff decided to do a wildcat strike to protest overcrowding and non-payment. Most visitors were kicked out because a spokesperson said that employees had a “social movement”, but they had a strike in the monthly union meeting.

The C.G.T. Culture union organized the strike and was not officially announced, making it a “social movement” under French law rather than a formal strike. Christian Galani, who is a union spokesperson, said workers went on strike because there were not enough staff members to maintain the museum, lots of things to clean up, and too many visitors. “The rooms are in very bad shape, and there are too many people. It’s unbearable,” said Galani. (explain the evidence here)

The Louvre has lots of famous art, like the Mona Lisa, which is always crowded. In 2023, the museum capped daily visitors at 30,000 and raised the ticket prices to 22 euros to be able to make prices cheaper for locals. However, the staff still says nothing has changed. Emmanuel Macron said he would move the Mona Lisa somewhere safe, but staff say nothing has happened

Europe is also having problems with tourism. Protests happened in Barcelona, Rome, and Lisbon, with locals protesting about how everything is dirty and there is environmental damage because of tourism. In Barcelona, signs read, “Tourists go home,” showing how no one in Europe likes tourists.

The Louvre reopened at 2:30 p.m., although most of the workers had left. The Louvre is closed on Tuesdays and will open again on Wednesday.