The Louvre Museum was closed again; What is the matter?

According to Euronews; The staff of the Louvre museum in Paris, who accepted a temporary truce before the New Year holidays, are now back with more determination. They unanimously voted to strike to protest the unstable working conditions.

This decision was taken on the morning of Monday 15 January 1404 (January 5, 2026) and after a stormy meeting among labor unions.

The museum management has announced that despite this widespread strike, the doors of the Louvre will not be completely closed. Visitors can still see masterpieces such as the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo and the Victory of Samothrace, but many parts of the museum have gone dark.

The root of these grievances is deeper than a simple legal dispute. Staff are frustrated by the severe shortage of manpower, especially in the gallery supervision department. The dilapidation of the museum building and the security weaknesses that led to the astonishing theft of the royal jewels on 27 Mehr 1404 (October 19, 2025) have exhausted everyone’s patience.

Photographer: Unknown / AP Photo

In addition to security concerns, the plan to increase the ticket price by 45% for non-European tourists also fueled the anger of the employees. They believe that this decision is unfair and damages the international image of the museum.

France‘s culture ministry tried to calm the situation by promising to reverse a 5.7 million euro budget cut and announcing a new hiring plan. But the trade unions found these measures insufficient.

The unions announced that in the absence of “sufficient progress” in the negotiations, they had no choice but to continue the strike. This protest movement was initially started on 24 Azar 1404 (15 December 2025), but it was suspended four days later to prevent chaos during the Christmas holidays.

Despite all these fringes, the Louvre is still a magnet for world tourism. In 2025, about 9 million people visited this museum, which shows a slight increase compared to the previous year (8.7 million people); However, the 2024 summer Olympic and Paralympic Games caused a temporary drop in the number of visits.