The Greek authorities on Friday revealed a listing of 198 “untrodden seashores” that it stated at the moment are off limits to bars, eating places and enormous public gatherings in its newest try to comprise improvement and handle the backlash to the throngs of vacationers that descend on the nation’s coastlines annually.
The transfer comes amid rising frustration amongst residents of Greek islands and elements of the coastal mainland which can be common with international guests. Protests ballooned right into a nationwide “seashore towel motion” final summer time as disgruntled locals complained that they had been being pushed off their very own seashores by companies in search of to make the most of a vacationer growth that introduced greater than 32 million international guests to Greece final yr.
On the nation’s Cycladic islands, native residents joined forces with the authorities to push again towards a wave of development.
Greece’s conservative authorities has pledged to crack down on the event, and on seaside companies that violate rules. In February it handed a legislation aimed toward regulating using the nation’s shoreline, imposing penalties of as much as 60,000 euros for companies occupying greater than 50 % of Greek seashores with umbrellas and solar beds.
Critics stated the legislation didn’t go far sufficient to curb the issue, with some claiming that the federal government was perpetuating the problem by not tackling unlawful land use extra comprehensively.
The record of “untrodden seashores,” unveiled in a joint settlement between Greece’s finance and setting ministers, is a part of a broader effort to revive steadiness, the federal government stated. “The principle aim is to mix environmental safety with sustainable improvement,” Kostis Hatzidakis, the financial system and finance minister, stated on Friday.
“The setting is a worthwhile element of the Greek vacationer product,” he stated.
Underneath the brand new initiative, the federal government was placing public belongings “below a strict framework of guidelines, penalties and obligations,” Mr. Hatzidakis stated. Inspections and transparency can be elevated, as would “the enforcement of the legislation,” he added.
The seashores on the record are in areas included within the European Union’s Natura program, a community of susceptible habitats throughout Europe which can be protected below European legislation. Among the many seashores listed on Friday are spots on common islands comparable to Milos, Naxos, Lesbos, Samothrace and within the southern Peloponnese peninsula.
The islands had been chosen primarily based on the recommendation of the nation’s Pure Surroundings and Local weather Change Company and are all “areas of excessive ecological significance,” Theodoros Skylakakis, the setting and vitality minister, stated on Friday.
Underneath the brand new initiative, no part of these seashores could be auctioned off for business use, and the presence of sun-loungers and umbrellas can be prohibited, as will the group of public occasions involving greater than 10 individuals.
One other initiative being launched by the federal government is a brand new app referred to as “MyCoast,” on which individuals can report violations.
Some environmentalists in Greece weren’t impressed by Friday’s announcement. Eleni Andrianopoulou, a resident of Naxos and a member of an area “Save the seashores” group, stated the federal government’s unique plan had been for greater than 1,000 seashores nationwide to be lined, including that Natura areas require “actual safety.”
“From the start we had harassed that this reform for untrodden seashores was a fraud.”
Demetre Karavellas, director of the World Wildlife Fund Greece, stated the authorities had been leaping the gun with their record of pristine seashores, noting that there are greater than 100 marine and coastal areas in Greece which can be acknowledged by the Natura program however have but to be successfully managed or conserved.
“The federal government ought to begin by complying with its fundamental authorized obligations earlier than creating new imprecise classes of safety,” he stated.