A statistical analysis of 9,170 beach and shoreline concessions through which citizens can check whether the concession terms are met on the beaches they visit and submit a report 2 April 2023: A news story reveals that a business has built a fence on Panormos beach in Mykonos the Deputy Prosecutor of the Supreme Court issued a circular asking prosecutors to be particularly strict in cases of “appropriation” of beaches by businesses or residences July 1, 2023: The image of a waiter serving customers lying in the sea on unauthorized structures July 20, 2023: A group of friends goes swimming at Ammolofoi beach in Nea Peramos. Employees of a business that has swamped the beach with umbrellas asked them to leave if they were not sitting on the sun loungers July 23, 2023: Three hundred citizens protest on the Santa Maria beach in Paros They spread out their towels in front of sun loungers set up by a beach bar organized by the Citizens’ Movement for Free Beaches of Paros TThe summer of 2023 was pivotal in exposing a chronic system of illegalities on Greek beaches Under the weight of the reactions to the beach encroachments entitled “Conditions for the use of public property in coastal areas.” The main changes concern the demarcation of the seashore the transparency of concession tenders through a centralized electronic procedure the use of technology for legality checks and stricter penalties Part of the effort to bring order to the seafront was the development of an application that citizens can download on their cell phones to view a map of the area granted for umbrellas and sun loungers) and the concession agreement from Diavgeia a platform that publishes all public documents users can submit a report to the competent authorities if they find that the terms of the concession contract for that part of the seashore have been violated The iMEdD data analysis team has collected publicly available data of MyCoast app for 9,170 coastal concessions throughout Greece the purpose of use and the extent of each concession we analyzed 3,957 contracts in order to derive the financial consideration for each lease Today, we publish this public data free for use by the journalistic and academic community Our ambition is that their further analysis will contribute evidence to the public debate not only on the economic use of public property but especially on the need to establish a framework for the protection of the seashore a fragile ecosystem under pressure from both human activities and the climate crisis Six out of ten concessions are for the installation of umbrellas and sun loungers MyCoast app lists 9,170 concessions for the placement of tables and chairs As for the uses of the concessions we examined it is estimated that 60.36% is for Umbrellas and sun loungers 5.95% is for Water Sports and 3.75% is for Food trucks Four out of ten leases not posted to the application Despite the fact that MyCoast app features a special field where the leases are supposed to be posted not enough contracts have been posted for statistical analysis on key islands that were at the forefront of the 2023 wave of protests for free access to beaches When we asked the Ministry of Economy and Finance they replied: “The Land Services have posted almost all the concession agreements for simple use of the seashore and beaches Since the coastal concessions are managed by both the Hellenic Public Properties Co great efforts are made to ensure their immediate posting in the application.” no concession contract has been posted for the Municipality of Paros contracts have been posted for only 5% of the concessions 13 concessions have been listed but only 1 contract has been posted no contracts have been posted out of 34 concessions This means that our analysis does not include municipalities for which we have a sample of less than 20% of leases The analysis of the financial consideration of the concessions does not include most of the islands of the Cyclades the Dodecanese and other major tourist destinations we analyzed 3,957 contracts posted on MyCoast app corresponding to 4,733 leases (a contract may describe more than one concession) such as the consideration for each concession we were able to determine the annual rent to be paid by each lessee in 4,075 cases or 86.0% of the leases for which contracts were posted According to the sample we examined (3,844 listings) the highest average lease price is estimated in the prefecture of Chalkidiki at 56 euros per square meter This is followed by the prefectures of Ioannina 37 and 36 euros per square meter respectively it is worth noting that in Mykonos (which we excluded from the analysis because the available sample was less than 20% so the analysis would probably not be representative of reality) the majority of the contracts we read indicated a cost of 120 euros per square meter we estimate that the average lease price for Food trucks is estimated at €346.16/sq.m and for Umbrellas and sun loungers €21.71/sq.m The calculation of the price of the first beach-seashore bid One of the important changes that the new law on leasing parts of the seashore promises to bring is an increase in the price of leases. The consideration for the initial bid in the electronic auction, based on the Ministerial Decision no 60314 EX 2024 (Government Gazette B’2516/26-4-2024) is calculated based on the following mathematical formula: “objective value of adjacent property X Seashore Weighting Factor X Activity Weighting Factor X years of concession X 3%.” For the concessions granted to businesses adjacent to the seashore the initial offer price is increased by 20% The objective value of the adjacent property is calculated as follows: Zoning price of the plot with the adjacent building per square meter X the area of the concession land in square meters The seashore weighting factor is defined as follows: The activity weighting factors are defined as follows: a smoothing factor will be applied to this formula which will compare the result of the above mathematical formula with the maximum consideration obtained for the concession of the same part of the seashore and beach after January 1 If the result of the first bid (from the formula) is less than the maximum consideration the starting price will not be less than the maximum consideration plus 15% for concessions by tender and 25% for concessions to adjacent businesses.  The sunbed – umbrella set is estimated to cost a businessman in Mykonos 2.500€ To confirm whether leases will actually increase under the new law, we analyzed the 2024 beach auction data as shown at https://eauctions.gsis.gr/ of which 143 are canceled and the rest are marked as “closed” A closed auction is an auction in which participants submit bids that are not visible to other bidders From this database we only considered the cost per square meter This means that we do not know what the hammer price will be but we have been able to find concessions in the Cyclades and the Dodecanese to include in our analysis The analysis shows that the average first bid prices are higher in the Cyclades where the average price per square meter for umbrella seats is €50 (maximum price in the data is €158/sq.m.) and €229/sq.m Average starting price (€/sq.m.) per use and region a set of umbrellas and two sunbeds occupying 5 sqm will cost a minimum of €530 per set for one year (starting price) We have asked the Ministry of Economy and Finance to provide us with a complete dataset that includes both the initial bid price and the highest bidder’s price stating that “a complete set of data cannot be provided It will be published by us at the appropriate time,” without clarifying what the appropriate time will be However, on July 30, 2024, the Ministry of Economy and Finance selectively released data on concession tenders conducted under the new system including the initial bid and the hammer price we found a tender for a beach lease in the area of Lia in Mykonos which we managed to identify in our database This is a lease of 300 square meters for the purpose of placing umbrellas and sun loungers which is in the same range of the five leases –signed under the previous regime– whose contracts we examined This means that each set of sunbeds will cost a business €2,436 In a sample of 3,950 leases we examined from MyCoast data of which we estimate that 1,473 were granted after the new law was enacted and 2,477 were granted before the median percentage increase in the price per square meter of leases granted under the new regime is estimated to be 18% the largest increase is found in mixed leases for the installation of umbrellas and sun loungers and water sports areas (47.7% –from €22/sq.m We estimate that in the popular islands of the Cyclades the increases will be many times higher in all categories of use Focus on the economy but not the environment And while the government’s legislative initiative appears to be a serious attempt to address decades of illegality on Greek beaches environmental organizations say it falls short on one crucial factor: “…it does not introduce a reform for the effective protection and management of the shoreline this important ecosystem that is under pressure from the climate crisis and it lacks provisions related to adaptation to climate change (e.g there is no mention of other natural or man-made hazards that threaten the coastal and riparian zones etc.),” note in a statement eight environmental organizations 2971/2001 that defines the State’s responsibility for the protection and management of public spaces and their ecosystems the minimum building distance of 30 meters from the shoreline is abolished while the maximum limit of 50 meters is maintained It also ignores the Protocol on Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) of the Barcelona Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea Against Pollution which establishes “a zone where construction is not allowed” which “may not be less than 100 meters.” Finally the law creates a category it calls “untouchable beaches” a joint ministerial decision by the Minister of Economy and Finance Kostis Hatzidakis and the Minister of Environment and Energy Theodore Skylakakis finalized the list of 198 “Untouchable Beaches” within the Natura 2000 network while 40 more were proposed in June of the same year the granting of concessions for simple use of the seashore and the beach is prohibited as well as any other action that may jeopardize their morphology and their integrity in terms of their ecological functions By mapping each concession from our database in conjunction with the published map of Natura sites (their demarcation has not yet been completed) we identified 1,918 concessions on beaches that fall within the Natura 2000 network the placement of umbrellas and sun loungers is prohibited to exceed 30% of their area Environmental organizations warn that the protection of these zones is inadequate and that the new law does not really protect the beaches but restricts the activities allowed on them without anyone knowing for whom or on whose behalf the savage tractors are working.” August 1, 2024. The Kathimerini newspaper reports that “an amendment to a draft law by the Ministry of Economy and Financeallows municipalities to legalize illegal constructions (e.g landfills) in order to lease them to cafeterias and taverns right by the sea.” Explainer: what changes for the seashore with the new law Last summer’s legacy Law 5092/2024 Digital Paros Lab iMEdD is a non-profit organization in an effort to enhance transparency founded in 2018 with the exclusive donation of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) 2023: This photograph shows fluttering Greek and European flags on a burnt building amid a fire between the villages of Kiotari and Genadi Relentless wildfires in Greece are forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate from the islands of Rhodes and Corfu — and leaving many tourists stranded at airports and makeshift shelters 2023: A fireman gestures and holds a cat and two rabbits after rescuing them from a fire between the villages of Kiotari and Gennadi 2023: Burnt trees are seen next to a hotel near the village of Kiotari Forest fires rage in Rhodes and other parts of Greece Greek firefighters are still working to contain the blazes, with help from several other countries. But they face an uphill battle, as Greece's weather service says temperatures are likely to flare up again on Tuesday for several days "We are in the seventh day of the fire and it hasn't been controlled," Rhodes Deputy Mayor Konstantinos Taraslias told Greek state TV ERT as a fresh round of evacuations were ordered on Monday, Politico reports Corfu became the second island to launch major evacuations, after some 19,000 people fled Rhodes over the weekend in what Greek authorities called "the largest evacuation from a wildfire in the country." 2023: Evacuees take shelter at a sports hall in Venetokleio due to wildfires on Rhodes island 2023: A burnt beach bar can be seen near the village of Kiotari Forest fires rage on Rhodes and in other parts of Greece The Associated Press reports that 16,000 people were evacuated from Rhodes by land and 3,000 by sea from 12 villages and several hotels Six people were treated at a hospital for respiratory problems Authorities said at least 2,400 visitors and locals were evacuated from Corfu overnight on Sunday as a precaution, according to AFP 2023: People watch the fires near the village of Malona in the Greek island of Rhodes 2023: A deer runs with smoke in the background during a fire between the villages of Kiotari and Gennadi Wildfires have become a nearly annual phenomenon in Greece but this year it's simultaneously in so many different fronts," Varvitsioti said "And that's why I think it's very hard for the Greek fire department to deal with it." The fires struck during peak tourist season in Greece And while visitors flock to the islands from all over the world Corfu and Rhodes are especially popular with people from the United Kingdom 2023: Tourists wait in the airport's departure hall as evacuations are underway due to wildfires There are currently between 7,000 and 10,000 British tourists on Rhodes, U.K. Foreign Office Minister Andrew Mitchell said on Monday Many of them are still trying to get out of the country both in terms of getting to the airport and getting a flight home smoke-filled skies and lying on mattresses in makeshift shelters Varvitsioti said tourists were moved to locations like schools and conference centers until they could fly out, which has also been a complicated endeavor. Many have spent one or even two nights sleeping in the hallways of Rhodes' international airport 2023: Smoke caused by a massive wildfire in the Rhodes island in Greece "Some of them did not even have their travel documents so there was a makeshift operation at the airport by the foreign ministry and embassies which provided travelers with the necessary documents so they could return home," she explained The British government said Sunday it had sent a rapid deployment team to Rhodes to support its citizens at the airport by helping with emergency travel documents and working with travel operators and Greek authorities Greece's foreign ministry has also set up a crisis management unit to facilitate the evacuation of foreign citizens British airlines-slash-tour-operators, Jet2 and Tui, have canceled all incoming flights to Rhodes for the next several days and are using the empty planes to bring tourists home Greece's transportation ministry said 21 repatriation flights took place on Monday and more would follow The U.K. Foreign Ministry updated its travel advisory for Greece on Sunday telling travelers headed for any affected areas to check with their travel operator or hotel first — but not warning against it told Times Radio that that's because only 10% of Rhodes is affected by the fires He said he personally would not travel there at the moment but deferred to "tourist companies and the holiday experts .. to give guidance on whether or not a family or individuals' holidays are going to be ruined by these events." Meanwhile, U.S. officials are urging any Americans in the area to "follow instructions from local authorities and closely monitor the local media and emergency alerts." 2023: Firefighters work to extinguish a wildfire in a forest near Nea Peramos not just on those islands but on Evia and the Peloponnesian peninsula as well They're getting help from the European Union and beyond France, Italy, Romania, Slovakia, Poland, Croatia, Bulgaria and Malta are among the countries deploying not only equipment but hundreds of firefighters Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, tweeted on Sunday that EU firefighters were already on the ground "Greece is handling this difficult situation with professionalism putting emphasis on safely evacuating thousands of tourists and can always count on European solidarity," she wrote 2023: A cloud of smoke rises during a fire in Dervenochoria Mitsotakis told parliament on Monday that "we are at war — completely focused on the fires," per the AP He said climate change "will make its presence ever more felt with greater natural disasters throughout the Mediterranean region," and urged people to remain "on constant alert" in the days and weeks ahead Become an NPR sponsor ● JETAV Flight Academy acquires an A320 FNPT II MCC simulator from Entrol strengthening its fixed-wing pilot training capabilities Several countries are sending firefighting aircraft to Israel as crews battle for a second day to extinguish a wildfire that.. 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You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Alexander Haditaghi was declared the highest bidder for the development of a coastal land parcel in Nea Iraklitsa near Kavala the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF) said on Tuesday The total consideration is 18.5 million euros The starting price was set at 9.1 million euros The parcel of land includes two coastal properties sharing borders totalling 14973 hectares (149,733 stremmas) faces the bay of Kavala on the mainland and the eastern coast of Thassos island It has direct access to Egnatia Odos national highway and the old Thessaloniki-Kaval National Highway with the coastal road of Nea Iraklitsa-Kavala traversing its western limit 45km from the Kavala International Airport ‘Megas Alexandros’ and 140km from Thessaloniki The closest ports are those of Kavala and Nea Peramos (2.5km) Nea Iraklitsa is a coastal resort during the summer months and attracts tourists from northern Greece Enter your information below to receive our weekly newsletters with the latest insights opinion pieces and current events straight to your inbox Heavy overnight rain on 15th November caused flash flooding in parts of Greece At least 15 people have been killed and it has caused widespread destruction in central Greece as people were unprepared for the fast-flowing torrents of red mud that flooded the roads and thousands of homes The sheer force of the water moved vehicles After the decision to cancel the tender for Alexandroupoli Port Authority and instead develop its infrastructure through public investments to be undertaken by the main shareholder the government has also decided to proceed with a similar model for the Kavala Port Authority Kavala constitutes port infrastructure of critical geopolitical importance adjacent to important energy facilities and resources Infrastructures include the only active hydrocarbon field in the country (Prinos) the underwater cavity off Kavala that can be used as a strategic gas reserve depot (the tender for which is ongoing) also the prospect of developing sites of undersea carbon dioxide storage and the Trans-Adriatic Natural Gas Pipeline (TAP) It is located next to the Egnatia Highway and is close to the vertical roads that will be developed and connect it to the Balkans while its proximity to the city to Alexandroupoli is such that its port is often treated as a complement to its counterpart in the northeastern Greece 100% of whose share capital is controlled by privatization fund TAIPED is responsible for a port system consisting of four mutually complementary ports: the Apostolos Pavlos Port of Kavala yachting and fishing; the port of Keramoti which serves freight traffic and coastal shipping; the port of Nea Peramos which is intended for the service of freight traffic The complex of these four ports has been characterized as having international importance as it can function as a hub for the Eastern Balkan Peninsula as expressed by the former US ambassador in Athens Seventy-one out of 323 beaches inspected by the Panhellenic Center for Ecological Research in the Greek capital’s Attica region were found unfit for swimming with low cleanliness scores going to popular spots like Loutsa which is a member of the United Nations Environmental Program checked the waters at 323 beaches for Enterococci as well as for pollution from household detergents they deemed that bathing is dangerous at the following beaches: Elefsina The remainder of the beaches inspected was ruled safe for the public while Attica also received dozens of Blue Flags this year for its beaches By the end of 2026 to early 2027, the Suburban Railway of western Attica will be opened to traffic connecting all coastal areas from Elefsina to Nea Peramos and Megara with the existing suburban railway network to Athens and the airport The network includes eight stop stations: HELPE Aspropyrgos it is the upgrading of the existing Suburban Railway of Western Attica namely the section Ano Losia – New Megara Station – P.S with the contractor being Metlen Group’s METKA company financed by the Recovery and Resilience Fund (RRF) and will connect Western Attica with Athens Piraeus and the rest of the railway network The project involves the construction of a new suburban railway branch from Ano Losia to Megara within the existing railway corridor of the old railway line to the Peloponnese the scope of the project concerns the construction of a single 36km-long line in the west of Athens from Ano Losia to the old railway station of Megara on the axis of the old metric line of the SPAP serving the densely populated areas of Aspropyrgos the project concerns the renovation of the superstructure of the Railway Line with new materials and its certification to the Interoperability Principles and includes the installation of a 25kV overhead contact line system the installation of a signalling and telecommand system with ETCS L1 with all station information systems telecommunication systems and E/M installations at the stations.The final project will be interconnected with the High Speed Railway Line (HST) at the Ano Liosia railway station The project budget also includes the branch line to the old Megara station the construction of which is an option that is activated with the approval of the environmental conditions for this section the Western Attica Suburban Railway will not only serve areas with a population employed in industries in the wider region but a large number of logistics centers are currently being organized along it while at the same time the load of heavy vehicles circulating on the PATHE axis will be reduced.” It is noted that one freight train is equal to the traffic of 15 – 20 heavy vehicles on the road axes Follow en.protothema.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news See all the latest News from Greece and the World, the moment they happen, at en.protothema.gr