Greeks Fight for Their Constitutional Right to Free Access and Use of Their Country’s Beaches

Beach in Loutro, Crete © 2023 Deepika Shrestha Ross
Beach in Loutro, Crete © 2023 Deepika Shrestha Ross

The beaches in Greece are considered a “public good” per their Constitution. 
Increasingly, however, businesses that have been issued permits to operate in the coastal areas have taken over the coast with their concessions, and sunbeds and umbrellas are packed on almost every accessible area of the beach and charge high fees for their use….

The City of Fira, - Santorini, Greece - at Dusk © 2023 D Shrestha Ross

As Development Alters Greek Islands’ Nature and Culture, Locals Push Back – the New York Times

As a proliferation of pools threatens some water supplies and housing costs skyrocket, people of the Cycladic islands say the Aegean islands’ character is being lost to real-estate homogenization…“It’s very easy to talk about sustainable development, but all they actually do is approve new investments,” said Ioannis Spilanis, a former general secretary for island policy at Greece’s shipping ministry and now head of the Aegean Sustainable Tourism Observatory…

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In Greece, There’s a Battle Over Beaches…

Activists in Greece launch ‘Towel protest’ to reclaim public beaches 

Image at top: Beach in Loutro, Crete © 2023 Deepika Shrestha Ross

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