Large tourism project blocked on Paros

The Council of State, Greece's highest administrative court, has intervened against the way large tourism investments on small islands are approved. More specifically, it has blocked a plan for the creation of a large hotel unit, with a hotel and villas, on Paros, reprimanding implicitly but clearly the Central Town Planning and Disputes Council (KESYPOTHA), which accepted the proposed project without sufficient justification.

Furthermore, the Supreme Court of Cassation reiterated the need to take into account the capacity of each island, noting that this must be done independently by the state and not on a case-by-case basis in order to approve a specific project.

The case concerns a project promoted by the construction company Ekter on an area of 32.7 hectares on the peninsula of Agios Ioannis Detis at Kolymbithres. The project stipulates the development of a huge...