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.