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Protesters in France shut the entrance to the world-famous Louvre Museum
The Louvre in Paris could not open to visitors on Monday morning after students blocked its entrance. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said curfews would be imposed in some areas after the weekend’s looting and violence and that a state of emergency could be declared if needed.
Protests in France against the rising cost of living, which turned into looting over the weekend, spread on Monday to the world’s most-visited museum. The Louvre in Paris was unable to open its doors at 9 a.m. local time because protesters had shut its entrance.
According to information the museum’s management gave AFP, the action was launched by about 50 students from the École du Louvre, a higher-education institution within the Louvre. The CFDT union said students from the Beaux-Arts school had also joined in.
Footage shot in the morning shows the students gathered in front of the glass pyramid holding banners reading “365 days of austerity” (365 jours d’austérité) and “French public services are falling apart.”
What do the students want?
The students said the action was meant to support a high school movement that has been under way since mid-September and to protest “police repression.” A leaflet left around the museum said: “We are proud to announce that we are blocking the largest museum in the world.” It described the action as part of the struggle for “the right to study, to work and to live freely in good conditions.”
Louvre management said the movement had no direct link to the museum and that the building was simply being used to amplify the protesters’ message. A notice on the museum’s website read “Due to a student protest, the museum is closed for the moment,” with no reopening time given.
Footage filmed around midday shows protesters lined up in front of the main entrance beneath the pyramid while visitors who could not get in waited in the courtyard. The CGT union, which said it backed the action without taking part, said the museum would remain closed at least until noon.
The protest fell exactly one year after the heist in which French crown jewels valued at an estimated 88 million euros were stolen from the Louvre. A strike notice filed by museum staff in December 2025 over pay and working conditions also remains in force because no final agreement has been reached with the Culture Ministry.
Lecornu signals curfews and a possible state of emergency
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said after an interministerial crisis meeting on Monday that he had asked prefects to impose curfews in “partial and very localized” areas from Monday evening. The aim, he said, is to protect property, businesses and people. “Putting the whole of Paris under curfew is out of the question,” Lecornu said.
Lecornu said the government was ready to declare a state of emergency if deemed necessary, but that curfews were better suited to the situation for now. According to French media, the Châtelet, Les Halles and République areas of Paris could be covered, while prefects will decide for Lille, Marseille and Lyon. In Marseille, authorities banned all demonstrations and gatherings between noon and 8 p.m. on Monday.
The government also announced that the state would cover the full cost of short-time work pay for shopkeepers hit by looting from Tuesday and that a special support fund would be set up.
What happened over the weekend?
On Saturday, Oct. 17, demonstrations against the cost of living turned into looting and arson in many French cities. According to the Interior Ministry, 2,397 people were detained and 997 police officers and gendarmes were injured. President Emmanuel Macron addressed the nation on Oct. 18, while Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez’s resignation was not accepted.
According to AFP, the yellow vest coordination that organized Saturday’s protests has called for fresh action on Saturday, Oct. 24.
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