Louvre strike highlights Paris museum's overtourism issue as staff decry ‘physical ordeal'
The Louvre, the world's most visited museum and a global symbol of art, beauty and endurance, remained closed for several hours on June 16 – not by war, not by terror, but by its own exhausted staff, who say the institution is crumbling from within.
It was an almost unthinkable sight: the home to works by Leonardo da Vinci and thousands of years of civilisation's greatest treasures, paralysed by the very people tasked with welcoming the world to its galleries.
And yet, the moment felt bigger than a labour protest.
The Louvre has become a bellwether of global overtourism – a gilded palace overwhelmed by its own popularity. As tourism magnets from
Venice to
the Acropolis scramble to cap crowds, the world's most iconic museum is reaching a reckoning of its own.
Tourists take a selfie outside the Louvre as they wait for it to open on June 16. Photo: AP
The spontaneous strike erupted during a routine internal meeting as gallery attendants, ticket agents and security personnel refused to take up their posts in protest over unmanageable crowds, chronic understaffing and what one union called 'untenable' working conditions.
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Louvre strike highlights Paris museum's overtourism issue as staff decry ‘physical ordeal'
The Louvre, the world's most visited museum and a global symbol of art, beauty and endurance, remained closed for several hours on June 16 – not by war, not by terror, but by its own exhausted staff, who say the institution is crumbling from within. It was an almost unthinkable sight: the home to works by Leonardo da Vinci and thousands of years of civilisation's greatest treasures, paralysed by the very people tasked with welcoming the world to its galleries. And yet, the moment felt bigger than a labour protest. The Louvre has become a bellwether of global overtourism – a gilded palace overwhelmed by its own popularity. As tourism magnets from Venice to the Acropolis scramble to cap crowds, the world's most iconic museum is reaching a reckoning of its own. Tourists take a selfie outside the Louvre as they wait for it to open on June 16. Photo: AP The spontaneous strike erupted during a routine internal meeting as gallery attendants, ticket agents and security personnel refused to take up their posts in protest over unmanageable crowds, chronic understaffing and what one union called 'untenable' working conditions.
