Aegean islands

A demolition protocol was issued on Friday for illegal constructions at a beach bar in Psarou on the island of Mykonos.

The protocol was issued following inspections carried out by environmental inspectors from the Ministry of Environment between April 4th and 11th.

The owner has the right to appeal the demolition decision within ten days.

The annual Easter exodos of Athenians from the capital picked up pace at Attica's ports, motorways and airports on Good Friday.

A total of 14 ferries are scheduled to depart for the Aegean islands and 31 for the Saronic islands. Another 12 ferries will depart from Rafina and 9 from Lavrio ports.

Seven people have been arrested on the island of Mykonos for urban planning violations, reports said on Wednesday.

The arrests were made after officials of the Environment Ministry sent their report to the relevant prosecutor's office.

Three associations issued a joint statement on Wednesday calling on the Culture Ministry to strengthen the service responsible for protecting antiquities on the islands of the Cyclades from rampant illegal construction and other violations.

Ferryboats leaving the capital's port of Piraeus for the islands of the Aegean reported occupancy rates of as high as 90% on Tuesday, in the runup to Easter, the biggest religious holiday on the Greek Orthodox calendar.

Expressing its deep concern "about the destruction of its cultural heritage," the Municipality of Sifnos has become the first in the Cyclades island chain to ask the state to stop the construction of cave houses, ban private swimming pools and enforce stricter measures to protect it from dizzying tourist development.

The time has come for something to change in the way flagrant illegality is dealt with in Greece. The political system will be tested on whether it has the courage and determination to show in practice that something is changing by how it intervenes in Mykonos.

A couple on the ferry boat Nissos Mykonos in the Aegean sea, August 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE/DIMITRIS TOSIDIS

The probe was triggered by an attack on archaeologist Manolis Psarros, who is in charge of urban planning and archeology on Mykonos, on March 7.

A team comprising environmental inspectors and financial police, accompanied by a public prosecutor and a strong law enforcement contingent, began audits on the popular tourist island of Mykonos on Monday amid a proliferation of complaints and reports of arbitrary and illegal construction activity. 

A vast wall erected by a bar/restaurant is seen on Panormos beach on Mykonos. Kathimerini traveled to the popular Aegean island to investigate allegations of out-of-control building violations after the brutal attack on an archaeologist opposing such rampant construction.