The entrants invaded by the restaurants, the round trip of the suitcases of the rollers that slide between the overflowing cans, the strong music, Giorgos Zafeiriou no longer recognize the historical heart of Athens, where tourists are arriving. His Plaka district “is threatened by grooves”, the chords of this man who has lived there for more than three decades and presidents of the Association of Residents of Residents.
It is “the oldest district in Europe that has been inhabited without interruption since ancient times. We cannot see him lose his soul,” adds Lydia Carras at the head of the Association for the preservation of the environment and cultural heritage, Ellet. Nicknamed the “district of the gods”, Plaka is located below the acropolis that houses the famous partner, a temple of the 5th century. C., visited by almost 4.5 million tourists in 2024.
All roam in this labyrinth of picturesque alleys with the appearance of the town where coffees, taverns, memories stores, small Byzantine churches and old and otominal vestiges are aligned. This year, 10 million visitors are expected, two million more than last year, in the Greek capital that found a growing success.
“Before it’s too late”
From the end of the Cavid-19 pandemic, Athens has become a destination itself, and more just a transit point between the International Airport and the Port of Piraeus, close, to reach the Islands of the Aegean Sea. In a memories store, the Konstantinos seller Marinakis rubs his hands. “Greece is finally better due to the good health of tourism that has allowed to straighten the economy of the country and create employment,” he insists.
Athens “is now one of the first ten most visited cities in the world,” he said, satisfied, his mayor, Haris Doukas, in an interview with AFP. However, he recognizes the councilor, “there are areas like Plaka that are saturated with tourists.”
Recently an “intervention unit” has been created for Plaka to enforce the rules, with the support of the Municipal Police, in this district protected by a presidential decree. Any resident that indicates, for example, that a restaurateur invades their tables in the public space or that the cars are parked on the sidewalk may complain to this municipal team.
Current regulations
“Between 1960 and 1980, Plaka had been invaded by nightclubs and Bouzoukias”, establishments that play traditional Greek music, explains Lydia Carras. “Many inhabitants had already left,” he said. Finally, in 1993 a presidential decree forced to close these clubs, protect the homes and specify the use of each building in the neighborhood. Hotels can open their doors to Plaka but only in specific streets. “However, this regulation is overlooked,” denounces Dimitris Melissas, a lawyer specialized in urban planning.
In Plaka, where only 2,000 inhabitants live, tourists can be there in summer up to four times more numerous, assures Dimitris Melissas, while there are no official statistics statistics, the census is held at the level of the entire city. On behalf of Ellet, the lawyer seized the State Council on the legality of sixteen buildings completely converted into seasonal rentals and that, according to him, in fact, they masked hotels establishments because they have reception or serve breakfast on the terrace.
Strong increase in income
The decision, expected in September, could be jurisprudence. Throughout the center of Athens, where the number of seasonal rentals already ascended, in 2024, to more than 12,000, which resulted in an unprecedented increase in rentals, the conservative government voted to ban new apartments on short -term rental platforms for at least one year.
“But when I still read newspapers to invest in apartments transformed into Airbnb, I doubt that the effectiveness of this measure,” says Dimitris Melissas. “The problem in Greece is not to vote laws but to do them,” concludes the lawyer.
Source: BFM TV
