Municipal Elections 2026: Candidates' Stances on Culture and Tourism

In Paris, culture and tourism are key priorities for the city government and are now taking center stage in the 2026 municipal campaign. Support for cultural players, management of municipal venues, preservation of heritage, and boosting tourism—what proposals are candidates for the Paris mayoralty putting forward on these fronts? Here's a roundup of the measures they've announced.

As Paris prepares for the 2026 municipal elections, cultural policy is increasingly in focus among the issues highlighted in the platforms of the declared candidates. Access to cultural activities, support for institutions and artists, management of municipal venues, and the promotion of Parisian heritage are all key areas under city jurisdiction that could see shifts depending on the priorities set by the next municipal team.

The Paris municipal elections will take place in two rounds, on March 15 and 22, 2026, marked by a significant institutional change: voters will cast ballots using two separate ballots—one for the arrondissement councilors and another for the members of the Paris City Council. Against this backdrop, several local issues are shaping the campaign, notably the role of culture within public policies.

Culture is a key area of focus for the Paris City Hall. It goes beyond just hosting events, encompassing a range of ongoing responsibilities managed by the municipality. Notably, the City is responsible for:

Oversight and funding of various municipal cultural venues,
Support for creative arts and cultural professionals,
Preservation and promotion of Parisian heritage,
Initiatives to improve public access to cultural activities.

These responsibilities are carried out by municipal services, particularly the Department of Cultural Affairs, operating under the strategic guidance set by the Mayor and the Paris City Council. Budget decisions, support priorities, and cultural access policies are entirely within the jurisdiction of the local government.

Beyond cultural initiatives, the city also plays an active role in tourism, a key factor in Paris’s appeal. The municipality promotes the Paris destination, works on expanding the tourist offerings, and ensures a warm welcome for visitors—all in collaboration with institutional and industry stakeholders. It supports cultural and heritage events that can draw both national and international crowds, enhances tourist information services, and strives to balance tourism with residents’ quality of life and the preservation of the city’s heritage.

In this context, we provide an overview of the proposals made by candidates for the Paris mayoralty regarding culture and tourism, based on current programs and publicly available statements.

This article will be updated as candidates make announcements and share their positions throughout the campaign.

Paris 2026 Municipal Elections: Candidates' Plans for Culture and Tourism

Pierre-Yves Bournazel (Horizons – supported by Renaissance)

Revitalizing key areas across Paris, including Boulevard Saint-Michel, Rue d’Avron in the 20th, Avenue du Général-Leclerc in the 14th, and other neighborhoods by shifting the pre-emption rights from private apartments to neglected buildings and vacant commercial spaces.
Budget: €35 million
Restrict short-term rentals to a maximum of 30 days per year and enhance enforcement measures (Airbnb).
Extend nighttime service on lines 1, 4, and 14 starting with Friday evenings and weekends from the end of 2026, then expand to full-week operations. When automated, lines 7, 8, and 9 will also be included.
Ban non-electric tourist buses within the city limits to support eco-friendly transition.
Close Bercy bus terminus and set up a modern peripheral terminal in Saint-Denis, directly connected to public transit.
Enhance green spaces, cultural venues, and sports trails along the Petite Ceinture. New walking paths will open by 2027.
Investment: €15 million
Implement the "Nouvelles Berges de Seine" project by developing riverbank zones with areas for families, sports circuits, bike lanes, and dog parks (protected by video surveillance and 24/7 municipal police): Quai des Enfants from Pont d’Arcole to Pont Louis-Philippe, Quai Olympique from Pont Neuf to Pont au Change, and Quai Canin between Pont Marie and Pont de Sully.
Merge Paris, regional, and suburban tourism offices into a single "Grand Paris Tourism Agency."
Establish Creative Business Zones—metropolitan hubs for cultural production linked to Grand Paris Express infrastructure and ongoing urban projects—in areas including Canal de l’Ourcq (19th/Pantin), Seine-Amont (13th/Ivry), and Clignancourt-Montmartre (18th/Saint-Ouen).
Implement a 1% cultural levy: any development project exceeding €10 million within Grand Paris will allocate 1% of its budget to a major territorial cultural program.
Create a dedicated LGBTQIA+ arts center with temporary exhibitions, artist residencies, performances, debates, educational projects, public-access library, and archival space.
Establish "Villa Niki," a major Parisian residence dedicated to contemporary art, modeled after Rome’s Villa Medici.
Modernize management of museums (Paris Musées) and municipal theaters to reinvest in creation, education, and accessibility, with a total investment of nearly €30 million over six years.
Develop 500 artist residencies with affordable leases within social housing, prioritizing emerging or developing artists.
Budget: €18 million over the entire term—including €15 million for renovations and €3 million for coordination, management, and cultural support. The project will be financed through savings from the merger and streamlining of Parisian social housing providers (€540 million over a cycle).
End lottery admissions for conservatories and add 3,000 new spots.
Construct three new conservatories across Paris between 2029 and 2030 in underserved districts.
Introduce a "cultural pathway" in elementary schools to ensure all children have access to art and creativity.
Extend library hours to 10 p.m. (from current 6 or 7 p.m.) and open on Sundays.
Guarantee Paris residents full access to municipal sports and cultural facilities—gyms, pools, conservatories, cultural centers, and community houses—through free booking slots.
Revive the Paris Carnival and establish it as an annual event.
Launch a multi-year program to restore and protect classical urban furniture (Davioud benches, Wallace fountains, historic street lamps, iron fences, old signs, notable facades, outdoor metro stations).
Initiate a ten-year renovation plan for Paris’s 96 municipal churches and cemeteries.
Estimated budget: €200 million for churches and €100 million for cemeteries over a decade, financed by the City, State, Region, religious associations, and sponsorships.
Secure the Eiffel Tower’s status as a national monument to ensure its permanent protection.
Enhance the heritage along the Seine with illuminated exhibitions and night-time scenographies inspired by the successful lighting installations during the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics.

(Source)

Blandine Chauvel (NPA Revolutionaries)

As of March 6, 2026, there are still no concrete proposals or measures explicitly dedicated to culture.

Sophia Chikirou (La France Insoumise – New Popular Paris)

Establish a municipal intervention fund to preserve cultural spaces threatened by real estate speculation, as well as independent bookstores
Provide Parisian young publishers with a "Publisher Incubator": municipal premises and affordable rents
Declare independent bookstores as an "essential service" and support them
Mobilize a legal aid fund of €100,000 annually to assist bookstores
Support Parisian independent cinemas and take action against closures
Implement the 1% artistic rule: commissioning artworks in the construction and renovation of public buildings without requiring artists to cover design and execution costs
Empower organizations supported by the municipality to buy, produce, and co-produce performances
Move away from project-based calls and ensure the sustainability of artists’ work through multi-year programming, gradually increasing the proportion of the arts budget dedicated to supporting creative projects
Increase the number of affordable housing workshops and studios
Create a rent guarantee fund for freelance artists
Make vacant spaces accessible to artists
Engage artists for all municipal life events (festivals, urban planning, etc.)
Promote free access and social pricing for cultural facilities
Expand arts education from early childhood through middle school
Enhance conservatories: increase enrollment to eliminate lotteries, provide equipment loans, and introduce social pricing
Establish and support community-based education centers and venues for artistic practice
Open new neighborhood media libraries and art centers
Encourage the creation of self-managed "Nights Houses" to strengthen the link between culture and social life
Strengthen financial and technical support for existing alternative cultural venues
Create community halls for creative activities and organizing collective celebrations, as well as affordable rental spaces for private events (birthdays, weddings, etc.)

(Source)

Rachida Dati (Les Républicains – MoDem – UDI)

Create a grand, beautiful heritage urban park: renovate and widen sidewalks, replace street furniture with typically Parisian fixtures, and plant more greenery.
Designate the lower quays for pedestrians and the upper quays for cyclists.
Establish a "Children’s Night" event (for ages 5-12) in each arrondissement, from 6 pm to midnight, twice a year, featuring shows and installations.
Create a Parisian school orchestra composed of students from the 17 districts, which will perform three times a year at the Philharmonie and the Bastille Opera as a permanent municipal ensemble.
Revive the City’s non-strategic heritage assets.
Block applications that convert residential units into year-round professional Airbnbs.
Implement a "Paris of Beauty" charter dedicated to enhancing the city’s aesthetic appeal.
Reactivate the City’s "Urban Furniture Committee" to coordinate the enforcement of the "Paris of Beauty" charter.
Initiate an emergency plan to preserve Paris’s heritage, especially its churches.
Create a "Villa Médicis" of design on the site of the former 1st arrondissement Town Hall, hosting cultural events accessible to all Parisians in the evenings.
Transform Place de la République with new greenery and restore its two dolphin fountains.
Adopt sustainable landscaping choices for plazas and courtyards.
Launch an architectural competition to beautify the city’s gateways.
Install "immediate tax-free shopping" zones in key tourist districts.
Implement enhanced multilingual signage throughout Paris and its public transportation network.
Increase the visibility of the "Made in Paris" label to promote local consumption.
Introduce a "Paris Business" label to boost business tourism.
Open all libraries and media centers on Sundays and extend weekday hours.
End the lottery system in conservatories by creating 2,000 additional places by 2027, prioritizing the 15th, 16th, 18th, and 20th arrondissements.
Establish a "mobile" conservatory program: weekly music lessons in schools located in priority neighborhoods.
Equip each Paris square with a contemporary art piece on a rotating basis for six months.
Organize weekly late-night openings at major Parisian museums.
Initiate a popular festival celebrating live arts—such as theater, film, dance, and choral music.
Convert 20 public rooftop terraces into free summer cultural venues.
Open an immersive cultural space as a complement to the Carnavalet Museum.
Honor Parisians from overseas territories with an annual cultural program at Le Cent Quatre.

(Source)

Emmanuel Grégoire (Left-wing coalition: PS, Ecologists, PCF, Place Publique, L’Après)

Introducing 1,000 pedestrian-friendly streets along with vibrant new pedestrian hubs integrated into every neighborhood, making areas more accessible and lively
Establishing a temporary pedestrianization permit to allow communities to host events—be they cultural, sports, festive, or family-oriented—right outside their homes
Fostering beauty across all districts with the "Manifesto for a New Parisian Aesthetic" and appointing an artistic director to oversee the harmony and visual quality of urban design, street furniture, and heritage preservation
Transforming the périphérique into an urban boulevard and redefining Paris’s gateways as true squares of Greater Paris, connected by a vast green, cultural, and sports corridor
Creating the Seine’s Grand Banks: 25 km of continuous, green, accessible walkways along both riverbanks, on the Left and Right Banks
Launching a new swimming and leisure spot in the Arsenal Port: the Bastille Beach
Expanding the Petite Ceinture with an additional 10 km of accessible walkways
Adding 300 hectares of publicly accessible gardens, with extended park hours year-round, especially during heatwaves
Replacing vehicle lanes with 10 new parks on select Parisian boulevards, featuring playgrounds, kiosks, cafes, lawns, and dog parks
Increasing public restrooms, notably making municipal facilities universally accessible and equipped with changing tables
Hosting an annual lively and charitable Parisian flea market to revitalize neighborhoods and promote circular economy principles
Prioritizing public investments in underserved districts: new cultural venues, enhanced cleanliness, and street beautification
Extending the operating hours of municipal libraries and museums
Automatically providing library cards to all Parisian children and teenagers
Developing a network of Metropolitan Amateur Artistic Practice Centers to nurture and support grassroots arts across Greater Paris
Launching Paris Culture, a portal and app showcasing cultural offerings at negotiated prices, accessible to all
Creating a Feminist Arts and Cultures Center
Designing a large public park dedicated to culture and the arts, stretching from the Champs-Élysées through the Tuileries and Place de la Concorde
Designating a special day each year when the Eiffel Tower is reserved exclusively for visits by Parisian and Île-de-France schoolchildren
Ensuring affordable rents and establishing a support fund for independent bookstores, publishers, cinemas, clubs, and cultural shops
Expanding networks of ateliers, rehearsal spaces, and creative hubs
Supporting cultural diversity, notably through enhanced support for hip-hop culture within Greater Paris
Hosting artists-in-residence in every neighborhood, prioritizing those in underserved areas
Launching an international showcase for images, digital arts, and video games, blending trade fairs with festivals and free events across Paris
Making entertainment venues more accessible to broader audiences
Introducing a welcome pack—discounts at museums, monuments, and attractions—for visitors arriving by train or other sustainable transport modes
Promoting cycling tourism along the Île-de-France, with a green loop from Paris to Le Havre
Mandating tour buses to park only in designated facilities
Accelerating efforts to improve gender and cultural diversity in the city's streets and avenues—renaming avenues like Léopold II in the 16th and Lamoricière in the 12th
Collaborating with UNESCO to organize an international Education Week featuring conferences, debates, and public events
Supporting press freedom through the protection and hosting of exiled journalists
Creating an International Paris City Award in defense of human rights

(Source)

Sarah Knafo (Reconquête)

Restore historical street furniture such as Davioud benches, lampposts, newspaper kiosks, and Guimard metro entrances. Budget: 32.5 million euros annually
Prioritize aesthetics in urban planning. Abolish the current bioclimatic local urban plan (PLUb); new buildings should seamlessly blend into Paris’s landscape with facades that reflect the character of their neighborhoods.
Implement a comprehensive preservation plan for Paris’s religious heritage.
Budget: €300 million over the term of the mandate
Enhance and extend the lighting for historic sites—up to midnight instead of 10 p.m.
Budget: €2 million per year
Shift from grant-based funding to a procurement approach, ensuring local artisans are prioritized to guarantee quality and boost the city’s economy
Increase street lighting during the Christmas season.
Budget: €1 million per year
Highlight the booksellers along the Promenade of Happy People: improve foot traffic, recognition, and fully renovate the setting
Better secure public spaces near museums by increasing patrols and removing squats causing disturbances to public order
Undertake major restoration projects for key museums.
Additional budget: €6 million annually
Expand operating hours for major museums and libraries.
Budget: €8 million per year
Offer group music classes open to all, without auditions or prerequisites, at Parisian conservatories
Acquire more musical instruments and establish a pooled instrument loan system across Paris
Revitalize municipal marching bands and amateur ensembles throughout all Paris districts
Utilize municipal school facilities in the evenings and on Wednesdays to provide young artists with practice and rehearsal spaces
Conduct a comprehensive review of cultural grants
Ensure quality standards for temporary exhibitions held in public spaces
Revive the spirit of the Fête de la Musique by focusing on live instruments and singers
Re-allow heated terraces using eco-friendly, non-polluting electrical systems

(Source)

Thierry Mariani (National Rally)

No concrete proposals or measures explicitly dedicated to culture have been announced as of March 6, 2026.

Marielle Saulnier (Lutte Ouvrière)

As of March 6, 2026, no concrete proposals or measures specifically targeting culture have been announced.

To help you better understand the key issues concerning the management of Paris, we’ve compiled a comprehensive overview organized by topics. You can find all these themes below.

2026 Paris Municipal Elections: Candidate Program Proposals by Theme
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