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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Comment
Catherine Bennett

Emmanuel Macron’s got a point: Why shouldn’t we charge tourists to see our treasures?

Emmanuel Macron stands, looking down, in front of the Mona Lisa
Emmanuel Macron gives a speech in front of the Mona Lisa, which is to be moved to a separate space (with its own entrance fee) at the Louvre Museum in Paris. Photograph: Jacovides Dominique/Abaca/Rex/Shutterstock

Introducing, five years on, another Brexit bonus: the chance to support the renovation of the Louvre. President Emmanuel Macron has proposed paying for the “renaissance” of the Paris museum, in part, by increasing entrance fees for visitors from outside the EU.

After some initial attempts to represent this as a direct insult – “Brits will be forced to pay more than EU residents” (the Mail) – even the rabidly pro-Brexit press appears to have accepted that the scheme applies globally, to all non-EU visitors: an exceptionally cunning way of Brit-targeting, even for the French.

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