LATEST LAWS RE GREEK BEACHES.

[j90]

I have seen a very disturbing item in the national press,regarding a new law to be implemented this year, that requires 70% of certain Greek beaches to be free of beach beds. Seemingly there also has to be a minimum distance of 4 metres between beach beds and the water.

I am assuming, without any further info thus far, that this will apply to the larger resorts to allow locals to be able to access the beaches .

There is also a suggestion that bidding for beach positions in front of tavernas and holiday accommodation will be fairer. Whatever that means !!

If smaller resorts and islands are included in this new law, what will be the impact on the likes of Halki and Tilos. Symi not so much a problem because most of the beaches are accessible only by boat and presumably not used so much by locals.

Methinks Nick at Pondamos would be severely restricted by this new law if it applied to him.

The upshot of this must be that less beach beds will be available and therefore hire prices will increase. Once beach beds are all taken one would need to take to the sand or pebbles or even holiday in those countries that do not have this ruling. I wonder if this might be a step too far for the Greek holiday economy even though I fully understand why they are doing it.

I have laid on stone and sandy beaches in my youth but my wife and I are now well into OAP territory.

I would be interested on views of those who frequent Halki or Tilos or any other Greek islands and if anyone has any better info than I !!

Journalists may also have got 'the wrong end of the stick' which is why I have aired this article for views and better info, if any.

[Liz]

I've refrained from commenting on this in 'other' places but my two penneth worth is that it actually probably won't make much difference at Pondamos as the majority of the sunbeds are not on the beach .. they are on the "shelf" above and so are more than the regulation distance from the sea .. the same for Ftenagia .. it would be Kania I would imagine would be most affected ... but like most things that happen in Greece we'll just have to wait and see

[stevec]

Bit late spotting this but this law has been in place for 4 or 5 years in some form other. Ftenagia's lay out was changed substantially after the 2018 season - most of the beds south of the taverna on the lower level were removed and relocated to a new platform on the northern side. I remember commenting on it at the time and was told it wasn't a voluntary change. The change had been resisted but ultimately it had to be done or get hit with a fine. The width of the beach at Pondamos changes year in, year out, depending on the effect of the winter storms, so some years the margin might be a bit tight, others not. Kania has the least margin, but also quite a lot of the beach away from the center has no sunbeds close to the water's edge. Not sure who enforces the law, possibly the coast guard I'd guess.

[j90]

Thanks for reply Steve.

We were long term Halki visitors since 1996 until Covid. After being so careful we still succunbed. We have not returned since Covid and have also moved house.A 'madness undertaking'for OAP's. Too many things have 'got in the way' since then.

We still watch Halki news and its inevitable development and your excellent photo's are a wonderful reminder for us of what drew us to Halki for some 23 years.

Because my wife is a sandy, shallow water splasher we migrated from Pondamos to Kania. When I saw the latest internet news-bite re the New Greek beach-bed laws that were going to be enforced by Drone coverage, I wondered how it might affect Halki whose visiting numbers appear to have rocketed.

My son used Ftenagia so we were aware of the effect the law would have on Nick but I was not aware that the changes to Ftenagia were not necessarily voluntary! We were also aware of Nico's developments at Pondamos. Our most concern was for Kania with it's smaller beach. We had been there many times when every square inch of beach was covered with sun beds because of the influx of day trippers.

In the real world less beds generally means more expensive beds and inevitably a 'fight'for them. Seemingly, some of the bigger Greek resorts will be hit by the law if it is robustly implemented.

Halki was always so 'laid back' and I immediately thought of Kania and its dilemma should the law be enforced there !!

The march of progress. Ho hum !!!

Power to your cameras Steve.

[somersetsteve]

I have to say that, personally, I don’t like sunbeds on the beach and have no idea why people want to lie on a bed under a sun shade, inches from their neighbours and unable to even see the sea. But I do respect the fact that a lot of people do. What Nick has done at Pondamos is, I believe, the perfect compromise. The sunbed ‘jungle’ is above the beach and provides a service to those who want it whilst leaving the beach for those who want to enjoy the sun, sand and sea, not to mention a good source of income for Nick! 😊

[stevec]

Kania had 5 sun shades, each with a pair of beds in the zone last year (up 1 from July 2021). The northern half of beach, i.e. that section predominantly under the shade of the tree was choker with sun beds and has always been so. They are not 'set up' but get moved by users, predominantly local Greeks. This lack of formal set up may be how Kania seems to be getting away with it - so far. Although some day trippers do find their way round there, the lack of a bus service might be part of the reason why the balance has changed back to being predominantly people staying on Halki. All this is based on my photo record and personal experience/observations covering the late June/first two weeks of July. period.

The mono album for 2023 is nearly done - it'll around 230 images when it's finished in the next week or so. The colour album still has a good way to go - probably another 20 or 30 images. Plan to take the same camera bodies this year but leave the zooms behind and revert to the fixed focal length lenses I previously used when I was mixing film and digital.

[Liz]

I think there are 2 conversations going on here .. the 10m rule which was introduced a few years ago and seemed only to affect ' some places' and now the 'new' 70% rule which says 70% of the beach must be free from sun loungers .. Pondamos has this well covered in both respects .. Ftenagia too .... Kania which has been rebuilt after a terrible winter storm I've not heard any reports yet so remains to be seen

[ian]

On a group I am on for Pefkos, Rhodes on Facebook it was posted that the police went onto the small beach at St Pauls bay in Lindos and removed all the sun beds as the did not have a licence for the sunbeds also they didn't comply with the regulations.