While stretches of beaches on Athens’ coast are blocked by unlawful operations renting chairs and umbrellas on public beaches – with no government yet stopping them – the mayor of the southernmost island of Gavdos stopped a woman who was doing that online, according to thenationalherald.com.
She said the woman, who wasn’t identified but is from Crete, set up the unlawful business, putting seven tents on a beach on his island to rent to tourists.
“A businesswoman from Hania came here in April and set up seven luxury tents in prime spots on the island with good shade and rented them out on platforms like Airbnb,” said Mayor Gely Kallinikou, who added that the local authorities were informed about the venture a few days ago by locals and tourists, said Kathimerini.“No one has the right to profit by occupying a public space like our beaches and we will not allow such phenomena on our island.”
Gavdos is a popular destination for free camping, which Kallinikou calls a “tourism model.”
“We all have the right of free access to the forest and the beach as long as we respect some fundamental rules,” she also said.
There was no information on how much money the woman made, whether she’ll have to pay it to authorities, will be prosecuted or can keep what she made and as the unlawful operations in Athens continue to go on year after year after a few half-hearted attempts to stop it and some officials promising to go so far as to raze the facilities. They haven’t yet.
RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations, Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons License: CC-BY-SA Copyright: Artemis Katsadoura
