Road to one of Greece's most popular beaches to be closed for repairs

A decision by regional authorities to close the road that leads to one of Greece's most popular beaches on the Ionian island of Cephalonia as it undergoes repairs raised a storm of reactions from local tourism businesses on Tuesday.

Authorities said that the road to Myrtos beach, one of the country's most iconic bathing spots, featured in hundreds of posters and on websites advertising Greece as a tourist destination, must undergo emergency repairs following several landslides in the past few weeks.

The road has been in a state of disrepair since the Ionian island was hit by two powerful earthquakes at the start of the year that damaged a large part of its road network and marinas.

The road to Myrtos will therefore be closed from Thursday, with repair works expected to take until mid-July, before the peak of the tourism season.

The repairs had originally been scheduled to be carried out in the fall in order to avoid disrupting tourism traffic, but a series of landslides due to rainfall over the past few weeks prompted authorities to step in sooner.

The decision has provoked reactions from local tourism businesses that are accusing the government of failing to take action before the start of the summer.

Continue reading on: