Residents of worried Athens in front of the threat of surcourism

Starters invaded by restaurants. Moreover, the back and forth of the roller suitcases that slalom between the overflowing trash cans, strong music, the Greek Giorgos Zafeiriou no longer recognizes the historic heart of Athens where tourists flock.

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His Plaka district “is threatened by ontourism”, thunders this man who has lived there for more than three decades and presides over the association of residents.

It is “the oldest district of Europe that has been inhabited without interruption since Antiquity. Therefore, We cannot see him lose his soul. Meanwhile, ”adds Lydia Carras at the head residents worried athens front threat of the association for the preservation of the environment and the cultural heritage, Ellet.

Nicknamed the “district of the gods”. Therefore, Plaka is nestled below the Acropolis which houses the Parthenon, temple of the 5th century BC. Meanwhile, AD, visited by nearly 4.5 million tourists in 2024.

All wander in this maze of picturesque pavered alleys with the look of village where cafes, taverns, souvenir stores, small Byzantine churches and ancient and Ottoman vestiges are aligned.

This year. 10 million visitors, two million more than last year, are expected in the Greek capital which met with growing success.

Since the end of residents worried athens front threat the COVVI-19 pandemic. Athens has become a destination in itself, and more fair a transit point between the international airport and the port of Piraeus, nearby, to reach the islands of the Aegean Sea.

In a souvenir shop, the seller Konstantinos Marinakis rubs her hands.

“Greece is finally better due to the good health of tourism which has made it possible to straighten the country’s economy. create employment,” he insists.

Athens “is now one of the first 10 most visited cities in the world. ” says, satisfied, its mayor, Haris Doukas, in an interview with AFP.

Saturated

However, recognizes the councilor, “there are areas like Plaka who are saturated with tourists”.

“We are not yet at the Barcelona stadium. but we must act before it is too late,” he said when in the Spanish city, angry inhabitants denounce by demonstrating the excesses of mass tourism.

An “intervention unit” for Plaka residents worried athens front threat has recently been created to enforce the rules. with the support of the municipal police, in this district protected by a presidential decree.

Any resident noting for example that a restaurateur encroaches with his tables on public space or that cars are parked on the sidewalk can come to complain to this municipal team.

“Between 1960. 1980, Plaka had been invaded by nightclubs and Bouzoukias (establishments that play traditional Greek music, editor’s note)”, explains Lydia Carras.

“Many inhabitants had already left,” she said.

Finally. in 1993, a presidential decree forced to close these clubs, protect the dwellings and specify the use of each building residents worried athens front threat in the neighborhood.

Hotels can open their doors to Plaka, but only in precise streets. “However, this regulation is bypassed,” denounces Dimitris Melissas, a lawyer specializing in town planning. “Whole houses are transformed into several apartments rented on platforms” of short -term rentals.

In Plaka where only 20,000 inhabitants live, tourists can, in summer, be up to four times more numerous, assures Mr. Melissas while no official statistical statisticals exists, the census being at the level of the entire city.

On behalf of Ellet. the lawyer seized the Council of State on the legality of 16 converted buildings entirely into seasonal rentals and which, residents worried athens front threat according to him, in fact mask hotel establishments, because they have reception or serve breakfasts on the terrace.

Jurisprudence

The decision, expected by September, could be jurisprudence.

For the entire center of Athens. where the number of seasonal rentals already amounted, in 2024, to more than 12,000, resulting in an unprecedented increase in rents, the conservative government voted for the ban on new apartments on short -term rental platforms for at least one year.

“But when I still read announcements in newspapers to invest in apartments transformed into Airbnb. I doubt the effectiveness of this measure,” comments Dimitris Melissas.

“The problem in Greece is not to vote laws, but to enforce them,” concludes the lawyer.