Overview

• Long-time locals in Montmartre have stepped up visible resistance, with banners on balconies and resident Olivier Baroin listing his apartment in protest.
• Paris recorded 48.7 million tourists in 2024, underscoring the scale of visitor pressure on a city of just over 2 million residents.
• The Basilica of Sacré-Cœur draws about 11 million visitors a year, surpassing the Eiffel Tower and flooding nearby streets with tour groups and short-term rentals.
• The Louvre counted 8.7 million visitors in 2024, and staff staged a brief wildcat strike in June over overcrowding, understaffing and deteriorating conditions.
• Local shops in Montmartre are giving way to tourist-oriented businesses, as Paris cracks down on short-term and unlicensed rentals and other European cities test entry fees, caps and limits.