Greece is taking up the fight against mass tourism. The new beach rules could improve public access and protect the environment.
Athens – Greece is mainly famous among travelers for its picturesque beaches. The beaches are often extremely crowded and there is a real fight for Greece's beaches. New rules are now planned to come into force before the start of the summer season. It is planned that 70 percent of beach areas in Greece should remain free of sunbeds. Although this sounds like strict regulation, it has advantages - also for tourists.
Already this summer, the Greek beaches will mainly be without sunbeds. At least 70 percent of the beaches should remain free. Specially protected areas should even keep 85 percent of their beach area free, according to the news portal
greeknews.com
. At least half of the beaches should be open to the public, and on some beaches the setting up of sun loungers could even be completely prohibited. In addition, new minimum distances have been set on beaches so that sun loungers must be at least four meters from the shore.
Greece sets new rules for beaches: measures against monopolization
Tourism attracts millions of travelers to Greece every year, but this does not only bring benefits for the country. One of the biggest disadvantages of mass tourism, in addition to the overcrowding of popular holiday areas, is the increasing monopolization of beaches by hotels. This also includes the sun loungers, which are often set up by hotels along entire beaches and made available or rented to their guests. In fact, Athens is so crowded that the city ended up on the “No List,” which advises against certain travel destinations. However, intensive use severely limits public access, which the new rules are intended to change.
The new rules are intended to ensure public access to the beaches. The aim is to prevent entire beaches from being taken over by parasol rental companies and bars. This benefits both locals and tourists from hotels outside the beaches, who previously often had difficulty finding a place on the heavily frequented beaches.
New beach rules in Greece: benefits for tourists and locals
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced on the social media platform TikTok that there would be electronic auctions for beach licenses. This is intended to allow greater control over who uses the beaches. He added that a beach license also comes with obligations and responsibilities. The tenants must ensure that the beaches are kept clean. In addition, the beaches should be made accessible to people with disabilities and there must always be a lifeguard on the beach. Anyone who does not adhere to the new rules must expect fines and, in the worst case, the closure of the business.
Other popular holiday destinations are also struggling with mass tourism. In Mallorca the infrastructure is geared towards foreign visitors and in some cases more German is spoken than Spanish. In addition, mass tourism leads to significant environmental pollution in many places. That's why tourists in Bali now have to pay an entry fee.
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