‘MONA LISA MOAN’

World’s Most Popular Museum Shuts Down in Spontaneous Strike

Staff refused to open the museum’s doors to thousands of visitors on Monday, citing over-tourism and crumbling infrastructure.

Tourists hoping to visit the Louvre this morning were left frustrated when, without warning, the Paris museum remained shuttered well past its scheduled opening. As one American visitor told AP, the scene was a “Mona Lisa moan,” with “thousands of people waiting, no communication, no explanation.” Inside, a group of gallery attendants, security guards, and ticket takers had turned a monthly staff meeting into a spontaneous strike. The employees say they can no longer ignore the untenable toll that the museum’s 30,000 daily visitors take on its centuries-old infrastructure. According to a memo from museum President Laurence des Cars, the palace is plagued by leaks and fluctuating temperatures that endanger its artworks, and its outdated amenities can’t accommodate the constant overcrowding. In January, French President Emmanuel Macron announced a decade-long, €800 million renovation plan for the museum. Now, employees say the plan is too little, too late from a government that has decreased its subsidies for the museum by nearly a quarter in the last decade. But while the home of the Mona Lisa remains closed today, the strike has an end in sight. A representative from the staff union told AP the museum may reopen as early as Wednesday.