Draft law paves way for hotels to take over beaches

New legislation being drafted by the Tourism Ministry paves the way for seaside hotels to make commercial use of the entirety - rather than a portion - of the beach they face on.

In places like the Aegean islands of Crete, Kos and Rhodes where large stretches of the coast are already given over to successive hotel units, this will effectively mean that the public will be deprived of its right to free access to the water, having to pay an admission fee or a rental fee for an umbrella and sun lounger.

While hotels are allowed to lease a section of the beach adjacent to their facility and develop it for commercial use with loungers, bars, restaurants or watersports facilities, the new legislation seeks to lift restrictions on these leases.

It also increases the surface area of a beach that can be developed by a non-hotel business from 40% to 50% and raises the cap...