The Louvre has closed its doors: workers are on strike to denounce overtourism.

The strike came unexpectedly on Monday, as thousands of Americans, Chinese, Japanese, and Latin Americans waited at the entrance to the Louvre pyramid , tickets in hand, to enter the world's most visited museum . The Louvre, a global symbol of art, beauty, and sustainability, which houses at least eight museums, closed on Monday, leaving everyone in the lurch.

The decision was not due to the extreme "attack alert" that is hitting Paris due to the war in the Middle East and its aftermath, but because museum employees believe that overtourism is destroying the museum and wanted to stop this phenomenon.

The Mona Lisa, Delacroix, the Italian Renaissance, the Venus de Milo, French sculptures, Egyptian tombs, Napoleon's bed—they were able to rest on Monday from the general curiosity, the selfies, and the crowds. The Louvre closed, due to a staff strike , to preserve them and restore them to their former glory.

The spontaneous walkout erupted Monday morning during a routine internal meeting. It was when museum guards, ticket sellers, and security personnel refused to report to work to protest uncontrollable crowds , chronic staff shortages, and what one union called "unsustainable" working conditions . The "exhausted" staff denounces the institution as crumbling from within.

More than a union strike, it was a desperate wake-up call , adding to the protests against overtourism in Barcelona, ​​Lisbon, Ibiza, and Lanzarote this weekend.

The Louvre has become the symbol of global tourism. A gilded palace overlooking the Seine River, overwhelmed by its own popularity. While iconic sites from Venice to the Acropolis struggle to limit crowds, the world's most iconic museum is taking its own toll. It's suffering under maintenance, faced with hordes of tourists who don't even know what they're looking at, immersed in their audio guides and taking selfies, to the despair of the guards.

It's very rare for the Louvre to close its doors to the public. It happened during World War II, during the pandemic, and during a brief staff strike in 2019. But it never happened like this: with tourists queuing in the square, tickets in hand, wondering why the world's most famous museum had simply stopped operating. It closed its doors out of exhaustion. To preserve its works of art.

This disruption comes just months after President Emmanuel Macron unveiled an ambitious ten-year plan aimed at saving the Louvre from the very problems that plague it today: water leaks, dangerous temperature fluctuations, aging infrastructure, and an influx of visitors that far exceeds the museum's capacity.

But for the workers on the ground, that promised future seems distant . "We can't wait six years for help," said Sarah Sefian of the CGT-Culture union. "Our teams are under pressure right now. It's not just about the art, but also about those who protect it."

At the heart of the crisis, the Mona Lisa and her beatific and mysterious smile. A 16th-century portrait that draws crowds, more like a celebrity encounter than an artistic experience . A selfie for posterity with a distant, enigmatic Renaissance lady, kept in a glass case to protect her from her own popularity.

Every day, some 20,000 people crowd into the Salle des États, the museum's largest hall , just to take a selfie with the mysterious woman and her smile painted by Leonardo da Vinci. She looks like a demonstration of cell phones. No one gets to see her fully. They ignore what's around her —the spectacular colors of the work of Titian, Veronese, and all the Italians of the 15th and 16th centuries. Nor do they care. It's like seeing a trophy: having a photo with Leonardo da Vinci's greatest work.

"We can't see the painting," lamented Ji-Hyun Park, 28, who came to Paris from Seoul. "We see phones. We see elbows. We feel the heat. And then they push us."

Macron's renovation project, dubbed the "Louvre's New Renaissance," promises to remedy this . The Mona Lisa will finally have its own room, accessible through a time-limited entrance. A new entrance near the Seine is also planned for 2031, to relieve pressure on the overcrowded pyramid.

In January, Macron promised "conditions of exhibition, presentation, and explanation worthy of what the Mona Lisa deserves."

But for the employees, these are just promises. The urgency is now, as many of the 60 million tourists that France receives arrive in the middle of the European summer and pass through the Louvre.

The Louvre welcomed 8.7 million visitors last year, more than double the number its facilities are designed to accommodate. Even with a daily limit of 30,000 visitors, staff say the experience has become a daily endurance test, with very few seating areas, limited restrooms, and the summer heat amplified by the pyramid's greenhouse effect.

In a leaked memo, Louvre president Laurence des Cars warned that some parts of the building "are no longer airtight," that temperature fluctuations are endangering priceless works of art. Even basic visitor needs (food, restrooms, signage) are far below international standards. She simply described the experience as "a physical ordeal."

"What began as a scheduled monthly briefing has turned into a massive protest of exasperation ," said Madame Sefian. Talks between staff and management began at 10:30 a.m. and continued into the afternoon. By early evening, the museum was closed.

The comprehensive renovation plan, estimated to cost between €700 and €800 million , is expected to be funded by ticket sales, private donations, public funds, and licensing fees from the Louvre's Abu Dhabi branch.

But workers say their needs are more urgent than any 10-year plan.

Unlike other major Parisian sites, such as Notre Dame Cathedral and the Centre Pompidou, both of which are undergoing government-funded restoration, the Louvre remains in limbo : neither fully funded nor fully operational, nor is there a permanent donation or patronage scheme, as with other museums around the world.

President Macron, who delivered his 2017 election victory speech at the Louvre and displayed it during the 2024 Paris Olympics, has promised a safer, more modern museum by the end of the decade.

The problem is that the Louvre can't wait. The millions of tourists who visit it are the ones who can finance its modernization because, like Notre Dame Cathedral, it is a treasure of humanity.