Following the theft of some of its priceless jewels on Sunday, the Louvre Museum remains closed today, and is not expected to reopen until Wednesday, according to the institution’s website and social media. Previously booked tickets for the museum will be refunded.
While the Times of London earlier reported that the museum opened briefly before being forced to close due to a wildcat strike, a Louvre spokesperson said those reports were false.
“We called in staff to hold a meeting in the auditorium to discuss the theft, but French media reports that we were forced to close because of a strike by security officers are incorrect,” the spokesperson told the Times. “We should be opening as usual on Wednesday, as the museum is normally closed on Tuesdays, but that will be confirmed on Wednesday morning.”
The meeting with staff apparently did not go well. The Times reported that when Louvre director Laurence des Cars tried to address the staff, they began booing.
The staff discontent hardly started this week. In June, the Louvre was forced to close when gallery attendants, ticket agents, and security officers walked out in protest over inadequate staffing and security concerns that have resulted in “untenable” working conditions, the Associated Press reported at the time.
As David Belliard, deputy mayor of Paris, wrote on X Monday, the robbery “comes a few onths after museum employees warned about security flaws.”
“Why were they ignored by the museum management and the ministry?” he asked?
One of the chief complaints of staff in June was that staff reductions had undermined museum security, even as attedance soared. One union source told Agence France-Presse that 200 full-time posts had been cut at the Louvre over the last 15 years, out of a total staff of nearly 2,000.
“We cannot do without physical surveillance,” the source said. The SUD union in a statement on Sunday similarly complained of “the destruction of security jobs” at the Louvre.
“The collections aren’t safe and neither are the staff,” Yvan Navarroa, a member of the left-wing CGT union, told France Info radio this week.
According to an official report, written prior to the theft, the Louvre’s security systems were rated as outdated and inadequate, including a lack of such equipment as CCTV. The report, obtained by Le Figaro, allegedly found that security system upgrades were repeatedly postponed and have only been installed in refurbished rooms in the museum. Increased visitor numbers reportedly also contributed to the equipment’s obsolescence.
Culture Minister Rachida Dati later confirmed in a statement that, in light of the heist, new CCTV cameras would be installed, with €160 million ($187 million) previously allotted for an upgrade of the Louvre’s security systems under a larger decade-long plan launched by President Macron in June.
The Louvre did not respond to a request for comment at press time.
