The move comes amid growing frustration among residents of some islands and parts of the coastal mainland that are popular with foreign visitors. Protests ballooned into a nationwide “beach towel movement” last northern summer as disgruntled locals complained that they were being pushed off their own beaches by businesses seeking to take advantage of a tourist boom that brought more than 32 million foreign visitors to Greece last year.
On the country’s Cycladic islands,residents joined forces with authorities to push back against a wave of construction.
Mandrakia,a traditional village in Milos,Greece.iStocl
The conservative government has pledged to crack down on the development,and on seaside businesses that violate regulations. In February,it passed a law to regulate the use of the country’s coastline,imposing penalties of up to €60,000 ($100,000) for businesses occupying more than 50 per cent of beaches with umbrellas and sun beds.
Critics said the law did not go far enough to curb the problem,with some claiming that the government was perpetuating the issue by not tackling illegal land use more comprehensively.
The list of “untrodden beaches” unveiled in a joint agreement between Greece’s finance and environment ministers is part of a broader effort to restore balance,the government said. “The main goal is to combine environmental protection with sustainable development,” Economy and Finance Minister Kostis Hatzidakis said.
“The environment is a valuable component of the Greek tourist product.”
Beautiful coastline on the Greek island of Naxos.iStock
Under the initiative,the government was putting public assets “under a strict framework of rules,penalties and obligations,” Hatzidakis said. Inspections and transparency would be increased,as would “the enforcement of the law”.
The beaches on the list are in areas included in the European Union’s Natura program,a network of vulnerable habitats across Europe that are protected under European law. Among the beaches listed are spots on popular islands such as Milos,Naxos,Lesbos,Samothrace and in the southern Peloponnese peninsula.
The islands were selected based on the advice of the country’s Natural Environment and Climate Change Agency and are all “areas of high ecological importance,” Environment and Energy Minister Theodoros Skylakakis said.
No section of those beaches will be able to be auctioned off for commercial use,and the presence of sun-loungers and umbrellas will be prohibited,as will the organisation of public events involving more than 10 people.
Another initiative being introduced by the government is a new app called “MyCoast” on which people can report violations.
Some environmentalists in were not impressed by the announcement. Eleni Andrianopoulou,a resident of Naxos and a member of a local “Save the beaches” group,said the government’s original plan had been for more than 1000 beaches nationwide to be covered,adding that Natura areas require “real protection”.
“From the beginning we had stressed that this reform for untrodden beaches was a fraud.”
Demetre Karavellas,director of World Wildlife Fund Greece,said authorities were jumping the gun with their list of pristine beaches,noting that there were more than 100 marine and coastal areas in Greece recognised by the Natura program that have yet to be effectively managed or conserved.
“The government should start by complying with its basic legal obligations before creating new vague categories of protection,” he said.
This article originally appeared in.