The Louvre Museum holds the title as the world’s most visited museum, welcoming crowds that often overwhelm its staff. On Monday, June 16, 2025, the museum closed its doors due to a staff strike, leaving thousands of visitors stranded outside beneath the iconic glass pyramid, ticket in hand.
The strike began during a routine morning meeting when front-office employees—including gallery attendants, ticket agents, receptionists, and security personnel—refused to return to their posts in protest. They voiced deep frustration over the relentless pressure caused by daily surges of visitors that have pushed the staff to their limits. Currently, the Louvre faces a chronic staffing shortage, making operations increasingly difficult.
Union representative Sarah Sefian from CGT-Culture described the working conditions as unsustainable. “This movement is driven by reception staff suffering from deteriorating work environments at the Louvre,” she said, according to The Travel. When employees gathered in the auditorium at 10:30 a.m. local time to negotiate, what began as a scheduled monthly briefing quickly turned into a collective demonstration of discontent, with staff deciding to remain assembled until management addressed their concerns.
By midday and continuing into the afternoon, the museum remained closed, while long, stagnant queues of tourists stretched far beyond I.M. Pei’s glass pyramid and deep into the underground shopping complex. Many ticket holders eventually gave up waiting and left, but the entrance stayed firmly shut, leaving hopeful visitors frustrated and disappointed.
“It’s like a Mona Lisa attack out here,” remarked Kevin Ward from Milwaukee, one of thousands trapped in the line beneath the pyramid. Visitors received no official in-person explanations for the sudden closure, though the Louvre’s website acknowledged the strike, noting: “Due to strikes in France, the museum may extend opening hours and certain galleries may remain closed. We appreciate your understanding.”
Last year, the museum recorded 8.7 million visitors—over twice the number its infrastructure was designed to handle. Despite a daily cap of 30,000 visitors, about 20,000 squeeze into a single room daily just to snap selfies with the deceptively small Mona Lisa. The Louvre now stands as a symbol of tourism pushed beyond its peak capacity, highlighting the urgent need for sustainable management of one of the world’s cultural crown jewels.
