28 May 2007Helena Smith
The privatisation of prime beachfront along the increasingly chic Athenian riviera has prompted a local mayor to go on hunger strike - the most dramatic step yet in the battle to win free access to the shores of Greece.
The commercialisation of beach leisure by big business and the tourist industry had become "a chronic problem" that called for drastic action, Mayor Christos Kortzidis said.
"I began the strike 11 days ago because it was the only way of exerting pressure after exhausting all other means. We no longer want words but solutions to this chronic problem," he told the Guardian yesterday. "There are 20,000 people living in [the coastal suburb of] Elliniko who cannot relax, or even walk, on the beach without paying for it. That isn't right."
Mr Kortzidis, elected on an independent ticket last October, has repeatedly appealed to the ruling conservatives to terminate contracts allowing owners of nightclubs and leisure venues to take over swaths of the sandy shoreline.
Residents are charged up to £7 for access to the beach - a prohibitive amount for Greeks earning an average monthly salary of €700 (£490).
"Because of these enterprises a large part of the beach has been fenced off since 1994," he said. "Despite repeated demands to the government there has been no resolution. I am prepared to go on [with the strike] for as long as it takes to see a result."
From the Caribbean to the Mediterranean, the privatisation of beaches has grown worldwide. To the horror of locals, fee-paying beaches were recently inaugurated on the island of Mykonos in the Cyclades.
