Overview

• A spontaneous walkout by gallery attendants, ticket agents and security personnel forced the museum to close Monday morning in protest of chronic understaffing, unmanageable crowds and “untenable” working conditions.
• Management and union talks that began at 10:30 a.m. led to a reopening around 2:30 p.m., with some workers offering a limited “masterpiece route” to provide partial access.
• Staff point out that last year’s 8.7 million visitors—more than double the building’s design capacity—underscore the limits of existing daily caps.
• An internal memo from President Laurence des Cars highlighted water leaks, temperature fluctuations and inadequate visitor amenities that threaten both art and safety.
• President Macron’s “Louvre New Renaissance” plan includes a dedicated Mona Lisa gallery and a new Seine-side entrance by 2031, but employees are pressing for immediate operational fixes.