There are those who want more accommodation options and others who want more protection for archaeological sites: the new government has to deal with the situation
Mykonos – one of the largest islands of the Greek Cyclades archipelago in the Aegean Sea – is among the top tourist destinations of Greece, one of the most visited countries in the world. After difficult years, first due to the Greek crisis and then to the pandemic, Mykonos, with a resident population of around ten thousand people, started to welcome more than two million tourists a year in 2022, a number that is expected to grow this year.
In addition to the problems arising from the large number of tourists and the problems arising from the fact that they are often very “party animals”, Mykonos has also been in conflict for several months because of the contradictions and conflicts between those who want to build other accommodation , and those who want to build other shelters who instead want to protect historical and archaeological sites in particular.
The Mykonos issue recently came to light when, last March, an archaeologist who had spoken out against some new tourist developments was injured in Athens in an attack that Despina Koutsoumba, the president of the Greek Archaeologists’ Association, described as “mafia-style”. “ referred to. The issue of Mykonos – sometimes defined as a “state within a state” – has come back into the conversation in recent days in light of the May 21 political elections.
The success of Mykonos as a tourist destination began between the 1950s and 1960s, but as early as the 1930s the island (which has an area of 86 square kilometers, a third of Elba’s) began to gain popularity with visitors visiting nearby Delos, the small Greek island considered sacred in ancient times and associated with the cult of the god Apollo. In this period there were actually some archeological finds that were followed by many movements to and from Delos and also someone started to notice the beauty and tourist opportunities of Mykonos.
Between the 1960’s and 1970’s some structures were built for tourism, both by the local community and with targeted investments from the Greek government. Mykonos became a hospitable place and was considered a symbol of freedom, tolerance and cultural exchange: in those years, for example, it was an important reference point for the LGBT+ community. Mykonos was the first of the Greek islands to attract many tourists and over time paved the way for the others as well.
Regarding the recent investments in the construction of new structures, the New York Times spoke of “investors arriving en masse, eager to make money thanks to the gold mine of luxury real estate development, huge hotels and nightclubs”. In many cases, the construction of new structures has been through building abuse or opaque practices, often coupled with the need to circumvent controls to prevent the buildings from damaging archaeological finds that were in abundance: only in the last eight years, in other cases constructions were discovered 12.
These controls are being carried out by a group of archaeologists from the Ministry of Culture, headed by 53-year-old Manolis Psarros: the man was attacked outside his home in Athens just after 8pm in March. He was left unconscious with a broken nose and several broken ribs . Psarros, for many years head of the department for building permits on Mykonos, had repeatedly spoken out against the irregularities in the months before the attack and repeatedly blocked construction work on new buildings.
Koutsoumba, the president of the archaeologists’ association, had said, given the huge interests at stake: “The situation on Mykonos is now out of control, the attack was mafia-style and was intended to intimidate him.”
(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ government has tried to contain the situation by sending 100 more police officers to Mykonos and announcing tighter controls on building abuse and greater attention to the island’s archaeological and ecological problems. So far in 2023, there have been 75 arrests related to these issues, more than double the number recorded in 2022. In recent months, the closure of two key “beach clubs” on the island has also been announced due to irregularities affecting the controls.
However, some associations on the island argue that the government is doing too little to solve a major problem that has dragged on for years: Greece’s Supreme Court recently described the situation on Mykonos as “miserable”.
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