Staff members at Paris's famous Louvre Museum have gone on strike, not to ask for more pay, not to ask for more time off, but because they're being overwhelmed by mass tourism.
I'm not making this up.
Mass tourism is apparently a thing. And this isn't the first time the Louvre has been shut down simply due to an overcrowded space.
The Louvre's 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.
Here's video of tourists waiting to get in (they didn't get in).
It's rare for the Louvre to close its doors. It has happened during war, during the pandemic, and in a handful of strikes — including spontaneous walkouts over overcrowding in 2019 and safety fears in 2013. But seldom has it happened so suddenly, without warning, and in full view of the crowds.
The Louvre is the world's most-visited museum, and it houses the Mona Lisa, which is set to get its own room in years to come so crowds can fit comfortably in her space.
The Louvre welcomed 8.7 million visitors last year — more than double what its infrastructure was designed to accommodate. Even with a daily cap of 30,000, staff say the experience has become a daily test of endurance, with too few rest areas, limited bathrooms, and summer heat magnified by the pyramid's greenhouse effect.
So now crowds of people who bought tickets well in advance are being turned away and refunded their money.
What's more, President Macron had announced last winter a major renovation of the museum. Macron has promised a "safer, more modern" museum, but that process will take ten years.
Too little too late for President Macron, it seems.
No word yet as to if or when the museum will be reopened.
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