Student Protesters Blockade Louvre, Shutting World’s Most-Visited Museum

PARIS — The Louvre protest blockade forced the world’s most-visited museum to shut its doors on Monday, as students from the École du Louvre blocked the entrances at dawn in solidarity with France’s nationwide protest movement over school conditions, the cost of living and police actions.

The museum, which normally welcomes around 30,000 visitors a day, did not open at its scheduled 9 a.m. time. In a post on X, the Louvre said: “Dear visitors, due to student strikes, the museum is currently closed. We apologise for the inconvenience.” No reopening time was given.

FAKTA

• Students from the École du Louvre blocked the Louvre’s entrances at dawn on Monday, October 19; the museum did not open as scheduled.
• The blockade shut the glass pyramid, the Carrousel du Louvre and the Passage Richelieu entrances, according to AFP.
• Protesters distributed a leaflet in French and English saying: “We are proud to announce that we are blocking the world’s largest museum.”
• The action came exactly one year after the October 19, 2025 robbery in which thieves stole crown jewels from the museum.
• More than 2,400 people were arrested across France over the weekend amid protests and looting, according to the Associated Press.
• Tuesday is the Louvre’s regular weekly closing day.

Inside the Louvre protest blockade

Students began arriving at the museum around 8 a.m., setting up behind the barriers in front of the entrances — including the iconic glass pyramid in the Cour Napoléon. By the scheduled 9 a.m. opening, management had decided not to admit visitors, and the blockade continued into Monday afternoon, Le Monde reported.

The exchange with tourists was at times tense. A Dutch couple waving their time-stamped tickets called the closure “shameful” and said the protesters were “giving Paris a terrible image,” while an Italian couple said they understood the students’ anger and hoped to reschedule for Wednesday.

A flyer distributed at every entrance, in both French and English, said high-school students, university students and workers were “fighting against a government that is neglecting public services.” It also denounced what the protesters called “unacceptable police repression” and called for “the right to study, to work, to live freely and in decent conditions.”

CGT union joins the students

Representatives of the CGT union were present alongside the students. Christian Galani, secretary of the CGT’s section at the Louvre, told Le Monde the union had come to support the students “as we try to do during every protest,” adding that the union considered it essential to keep the site secure for both protesters and visitors.

The Louvre itself declined to comment on the protest, saying it was “not directly linked to the museum.” The students pushed back on that characterisation. “We don’t feel at all separate from the museum,” one 18-year-old student said. “For us, it is a place of learning, of future plans, of work.”

A weekend of unrest across France

The blockade followed a weekend of demonstrations, clashes and looting in several French cities. The Associated Press reported at least 2,400 arrests, while Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said more than 2,330 people had been taken into police custody — around 70 percent of them adults. France’s chamber of commerce estimated more than 2,000 shops were affected, with damage running into hundreds of millions of euros.

President Emmanuel Macron criticised what he called “unbridled” violence on Sunday, and the interior minister admitted police had “lost control” in some places. The wider protest movement began last month in high schools in the Paris area amid anger over teacher shortages and has since broadened into a nationwide movement over the cost of living and public services. Read our earlier coverage of the unrest here.

What happens next

There was no indication on Monday when the Louvre would reopen; Tuesday is the museum’s regular weekly closing day. The blockade was set on a symbolic date: exactly one year ago, on October 19, 2025, four thieves broke into the museum’s Apollo Gallery and stole crown jewels valued at around 100 million dollars, forcing a three-day closure.