A once vibrant Greek island, previously “teeming with children and shops”, has been described as being left with nothing but bars due to the impact of tourism, according to a local. Iosif Stefanou, an architect, urban planner and professor at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), who has dedicated decades to preserving traditional Cycladic architecture on Syros, spoke to Greek media outlet ekathimerini.com about the detrimental effects of the tourism industry on the island.
Stefanou lamented to the outlet during a walk through the area that Ermoupoli, the island’s capital, which was once “self-sufficient”, now “only has bars”.
“In summer, it’s crowded with people; in winter, it’s dead”, he added. The academic used to view the island as “a model of co-existence. A mother would hear her neighbour’s baby crying and would run there first”, but now houses remain silent for months while their owners are away, he said, adding: “Now most houses are closed for most of the year because they’ve been bought by foreigners or Athenians.
“Fortunately, most of them respected and saved the houses. Many of the locals think about easy profit, which is why only bars have sprung up recently.
“They don’t understand they’re cutting the branch they’re sitting on. They see Mykonos on the horizon and envy it, but they don’t learn from its current state.”
Aristos Vamvakousis, a local music teacher told the outlet: “We are fighting, and as long as such efforts exist, Syros won’t become just a tourist destination.”
Alongside the school where he teaches, he explained “there are many theatre groups, dance groups, sports clubs, and groups of people who fight to provide variety and stimuli during the months outside the summer season. That’s what saves us, life in the winter.”
Vamvakousis revealed that pupils graduating from his music school discover they have nowhere to perform traditional music, with numerous rembetiko venues now shuttered.
“After October, you can hardly find a taverna to eat in,” he told the outlet. “The reason is that catering businesses are now owned – after the Covid pandemic – by non-locals who don’t care about keeping the shops open during the difficult months.”
Popular Greek holiday hotspots such as Mykonos and Santorini are amongst the most severely impacted by overtourism across the nation.
Pledging to address overcrowding and control visitor numbers on the islands, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis promised to restrict the quantity of cruise ships allowed to dock at them.
Mr Mitsotakis stated the Cycladic Islands were “clearly suffering”, facing pressure from residents regarding the effects on their daily existence and living costs, Bloomberg reports.
The Greek Prime Minister has highlighted that Santorini, which welcomed approximately 800 cruise ships last year, is the “most sensitive” to overcrowding, closely followed by Mykonos, which saw 750 cruise ships dock in 2023.In April, Athens was rocked by furious protests, with demonstrators reportedly chanting: “They are taking our houses while they live in the Maldives”.