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Santorini’s immense popularity is compromising its character.
Every visitor to Greece is familiar with Santorini’s iconic sight – those blue-domed churches overlooking the caldera at sunset. But what would you photograph if you pointed your camera in the opposite direction? From April to October, the beautiful paved paths along the cliffs of Oia, a village famous for its sunsets, are packed with people. Thousands of tourists Everyone pulls out their smartphones to snap the same photos. “In the high season, it’s busier than Penn Station at rush hour,” said a former adviser to the island’s mayor. Lucas Bellonas.
Over the past five years, Santorini has become one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations – with overnight stays increasing by 66%. Financial Success The story comes in a country still grappling with a decade-long financial crisis, which has also taken its toll. Report on “overtourism” European Transport Commission It warned that the island’s failure to manage growing tourist numbers was spelling disaster for the local community and environment and “jeopardizing the future of the destination.”
According to Bellonias, the sharp increase in the number of tourists is due to social media“The geography of Santorini is so unique that people want to take pictures,” he explains. “Before, you would only show your holiday pictures to your close friends and family. Now, people share them with thousands of people.” Oia’s cobbled streets are now a fixture in the feeds of many Instagram influencers. According to Bellonias, during the peak summer months, mobile network companies struggle to provide adequate coverage for the large numbers of people taking and uploading photos.
Bellonas was part of the government that tried to sound the alarm about the situation for years, but was ultimately voted out in May 2019. “Everything has capacity limits,” he explains. “Each island can only accommodate a certain number of people.” In 2018, they introduced a 8,000-person Daily limit Cruise ship tourists. But Bellonas told me more action is needed, and the city government doesn’t have the power to do it.
“Look,” he said, pulling up Google Earth on his computer. “Twenty or thirty years ago, there was a village here and there,” he said, pointing to the sprawling complex that now covers much of the island’s west coast. “In five or ten years, it could be a big city.” The city government has no power to stop new buildings from being built. That responsibility lies with the government. Santorini Building AuthorityThe EU report was highly critical of the Greek government, noting its “lack of adequate and proper governance” and its failure to implement Santorini planning legislation.
“We can’t predict the outcome, but what is certain is that the quality of life will decline,” Bellonas said. “We will face problems that are usually only seen in cities.” The island has already been hit by Traffic jam In summer, Airbnb This causes house prices to rise, and employers are forced to build new housing for their employees.
Source: PRIME International Corp. (Athika Voura, Greece, July 29, 2024)
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