Fury in Greece as Mykonos and Santorini slam new overtourism laws
The new laws hope to curb unchecked overtourism and safeguard local ecosystems.
Greece's latest attempt to tackle overtourism has triggered a growing backlash across some of its most famous islands, with local leaders warning that new planning rules could do more harm than good. The Greek Government has unveiled a draft Special Spatial Planning Framework for Tourism, a sweeping proposal designed to bring tighter controls to development in destinations struggling with rising visitor numbers and environmental pressures.
The plans would classify more than 1,000 municipal areas into development categories and impose stricter limits on new hotel construction. Officials have said the measures are intended to protect landscapes, ease pressure on infrastructure and encourage more sustainable tourism. However, mayors across the Aegean have argued that the proposals are based on outdated data and fail to reflect the realities facing individual islands.
Among the most controversial aspects is the way authorities measure tourism pressure. Under the draft framework, destinations are largely assessed using the ratio of hotel beds to permanent residents. Critics have said this approach ignores seasonal workers, short-term rentals and the true number of people present during the busy summer months.
Leaders on islands including Mykonos, Santorini, Milos, Sifnos and Kimolos have said carrying capacity cannot be measured by a single formula and should instead take local infrastructure and seasonal population changes into account.
Christos Veronis, Mayor of Mykonos, said the method is "fundamentally flawed" because it ignores the island's true seasonal population.
"It should be measured against the average daily population rather than just permanent residents," he told The Greek Reporter, noting that around 40,000 people live and work on Mykonos during the tourism season, separate from visitor numbers.
To curb density, the framework drastically raises minimum plot sizes for off-plan construction. However, Manolis Mikelis, Mayor of Milos, warned the changes could benefit wealthy investors at the expense of local residents.
"The law effectively boxes out locals," he said, arguing that many islanders can only afford smaller plots of land. According to Mr Mikelis, the rules risk paving the way for large investment funds to buy up property while pushing local owners out of the market.
Santorini's mayor, Nikos Zorzos, was equally critical. He argued that larger luxury hotels would only increase pressure on an island already struggling with saturation.
"Our island does not need a single additional bed," he said. "Allowing a 100-bed hotel on a 16-acre plot does not protect our scenery."
The proposals have also drawn criticism from smaller islands that fear their individual needs are being overlooked. Maria Nadali, Mayor of Sifnos, said the framework "completely ignores" the island's carrying capacity, landscape and cultural identity.
She warned that "lumping Sifnos into the same category as much larger, saturated islands" imposes a "one-size-fits-all development model" that fails to reflect local realities.
The debate comes as Greece faces increasing pressure to balance tourism growth with sustainability, with authorities also introducing stricter rules on sunbeds and beach concessions to curb overcrowding and protect public access to some of the country's most popular coastlines.
The consultation process for the draft Special Spatial Planning Framework for Tourism is still underway.
