PARADISE LOST
Shock vids show Greek hols island CLOGGED with shoulder-to-shoulder tourists as hordes of visitors pile off ferries
Shocking footage shows hordes of tourists shoulder to shoulder on a popular Greek island as they get off the ferry
SHOCKING footage has emerged of hordes of tourists arriving on a popular Greek island.
Lines of tourists can be seen squeezing down the narrow laneways of Santorini, with their suitcases in tow as they wait for vehicles to take them to their accommodation.
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The footage which was posted on TikTok by a local tour guide Victor Karayannis has shone on a light on the overtourism of the island.
Nikos Zorzos, the mayor of the island, said the huge number of visitors is putting pressure on infrastructure and pricing residents out of the housing market.
He said: "It is in the best interest of our land for there to be a limit."
He is now looking to introduce caps on visitors to the island at 8,000 tourists per day, down from 17,000 per day.
Last year, 3.4 million tourists visited the island, part of the Cyclades group.
A Santorini business owner said he was worried by the over tourism.
Georgios Damigos, who runs a 14-room hotel said: “Santorini is a wonder of nature that risks turning into “a monster."
“Our standards of living have gone down. It’s as simple as that."
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In the narrow streets of the clifftop village of Oia, islanders have put up signs requesting consideration from tourists.
The sign reads: "Respect. It’s your holiday… but it’s our home."
In June, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the prime minister, floated the possibility of capping cruise ship arrivals to Greece’s most popular islands.
“I think we’ll do it next year,” he said, admitting that Santorini and Mykonos “are clearly suffering”.
Santorini's tourism boom is echoed across Greece. National tourism revenues rose 16 per cent in the first five months of this year, data shows, and 2024 is forecast to outstrip last year's record 33 million arrivals.
However not everyone seems to mind the throngs of tourists visiting the island.
Alexandros Pelekanos, vice president of the island's umbrella trade association said:
"Everything is possible when there is planning and infrastructure.
"Do we want money or not? Do we want to have work and revenues or not?
"You cannot have your peace and quiet and make money."
The tourists don't seem to mind as they cheerfully trundle past a sign that reads "RESPECT. It's your holiday... but it's our home."
Portuguese tourist Rita Critovao said: "It's hard to walk around the narrow streets but it's quite beautiful.
"I would advise everyone to come."
It comes days after footage showed hundreds of tourists clashing for sunset selfies in Santorini.
Footage shows the tourists crammed up in a little space as they struggle to find decent spots for snapping pictures.
Hundreds were seen queuing up in narrow walkways to reach the clifftop of the village - a short walk that can now take more than 20 minutes because of overcrowding.
One picture even showed a tourist climbing on a restricted wall with a "do not sit" sign and posing for Instagram.
Whitewashed terraces and balconies that overlook its incredible surroundings are often littered with selfie-taking Instagrammers desperate for the perfect sunset shot.
Local resident Onur Kilic, 28, told iNews: "Too many people come to Santorini and they leave rubbish behind.
"It's hard for locals because we live here. The roads are too crowded and the traffic is much worse; it’s bad for the environment and the cost of everything is out of control, locals cannot pay as prices have gone up."
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Just days before, Santorini councillor Panos Kavallaris urged locals to stay at home and "avoid tourists" in a Facebook post that has now been deleted.
The post received severe backlash from residents of the island who asked the government to "limit tourist movements" instead.
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