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- 1. The Louvre Museum
Photo: Dennis G. Jarvis (CC BY-SA 2.0) - See the image in its page
We will not make this a long‑standing cause, as we already have enough of them, no doubt more important. But the announcement of a 45% increase in the Musée du Louvre’s admission fee (from €22 to €32) for non‑European visitors is a deplorable measure for many reasons.
Admittedly, foreign visitors have not contributed through their taxes to the running of this museum. But the argument is flawed: will we ask French visitors who do not pay income tax to pay more than those who do? Above all, the citizens of our country do not contribute to the budgets of British, Swiss or American museums. And yet they pay the same admission price as the residents of those countries. Indeed, they even enter the major London museums free of charge.
Yes, many tourists, especially Americans or Japanese, will not balk at an extra ten euros. But what about visitors from poorer countries, for whom a visit to Paris is sometimes a once‑in‑a‑lifetime event, and who will be subjected to a differentiated rate? Some even live in France, have French children, but have not taken French nationality; they will therefore be condemned to pay more than the others. A fine idea of culture for all!
How will they be recognised, moreover? Will every visitor be asked to show a French identity card, which is not even compulsory to carry? It appears that checks will be random. But how will they be carried out? By profiling?
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- 2. Condition of the cloakroom under the Louvre Pyramid on 27 October 2025
Photo: Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
Above all, those visitors who will now pay €32 to enter the Louvre (compared with €17 until the beginning of 2024), that is €128 for a family of four with two children over eighteen (!), will in return find a museum largely closed. We have repeatedly denounced the growing number of room closures (see this news item for the most recent one). The non‑European visitor will now be a cash machine, little considered, and not even certain of being able to visit what he or she came to see, despite having paid a full‑price ticket. For instance, if he comes on a Wednesday – and on other days of the week, sometimes not announced in advance – to admire the Vermeers and the Rembrandts, his €32 ticket will not even allow him to do so. All this is unworthy, as are the reception conditions for visitors, for all visitors, European or otherwise (ill. 2 and 3).
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- 3. Restrooms out of order at the Louvre, condition on 28 November 2025
Photo: Alexandre Lafore - See the image in its page
What message does this send to foreign countries? That of a welcoming France, or of one that discriminates against them? The trade unions are right to oppose this measure by invoking the universality of the museum, a term often used by the Louvre’s managers, who have a strange way of putting it into practice. There is now talk of extending this measure to other institutions, Versailles or Chambord. Do we really need to foster such an image, when the theft of the Crown Jewels has already cast a lasting shadow of discredit over this museum?