2024-07-08 23:18:37
Extensive controls throughout the country in 14 beaches that collected the most citizen complaints were carried out by its real estate services Ministry of National Economy and Finance, in collaboration with the Greek Police and the local municipalities.
In just 5 days, over 1,000 citizen complaints were reviewed, of which 604 were submitted through the MyCoast app, as well as hundreds of phone complaints (over 400) collected by the estate services.
From the checks carried out, it emerged that the overall picture on the beaches granted for business activity is clearly better than in previous years. However, from a part of the businesses that were checked, violations were found, ranging from the absence of signage to excesses of the occupied space by additional umbrella seats and other constructions. In addition, 3 companies were sealed, as they did not have a concession contract, while in total fines of more than 350,000 euros have been imposed so far.
In detail, the beaches that collected the most complaints nationwide and were checked as a matter of priority are the following:
1) Kryoneri beach in the Municipality of Parga. 169 complaints through the MyCoast app and dozens of phone complaints involving 13 businesses were investigated. In all of them, arbitrary use of an additional part of the beach that exceeded the agreed area was found.
2) Valtos beach in the municipality of Parga: 50 citizen complaints were examined and 2 fines were imposed for the arbitrary use of an additional part of the beach that exceeded the agreed area. The umbrella seats were immediately removed by the business owners.
3) Lagonisi beach in the municipality of Sithonia in Halkidiki: 49 complaints were examined and an excess was found in the occupation of part of the beach by additional umbrella seats, which were immediately removed.
4) Thymari beach in the municipality of Anavyssos in Eastern Attica (photos before and after the inspection): 4 complaints were examined through the MyCoast application as well as dozens of telephone complaints from citizens. The business was sealed due to lack of an operating license and a fine of 220,000 euros was imposed.
5) Masouri beach in Kalymnos: 47 complaints were examined, violations were detected in all 8 businesses operating on the beach. Arbitrary use of an additional part of the beach that exceeded the agreed area and in some cases constructions within the beach were found.
6) NAOK beach in the city of Corfu: 10 complaints through the MyCoast app and dozens of citizen phone complaints were reviewed. Illegal umbrella seats were detected, which were immediately removed.
7) Klima beach in Aegina: 43 citizen complaints were investigated, but no violations were found.
8) New Heraklia of Kallikrateia in Halkidiki : 41 complaints were investigated. No violations were found in 6 of the 8 businesses operating in the area. In the rest, arbitrary use of an additional part of the beach that exceeded the agreed area was found.
9) Beach in Rhodes town: 40 complaints were investigated. Arbitrary constructions were found in a company, for which demolition protocols were issued.
10) Beach at “Neron Kallithea” location in Faliraki, Rhodes: 21 citizen complaints were examined through the MyCoast application and dozens of phone complaints, while a case file has already been created. 8 businesses were identified which had illegally occupied additional beach area with umbrella seats and constructions.
11) Lourou beach in Messolonghi: 33 complaints through the MyCoast app and dozens of phone complaints were reviewed. An autopsy was performed on the business and arbitrary constructions, excesses of the leased area and alterations of the morphological area were found. The company was sealed and fined 36,566 euros.
12) Agia Marina-Mikrolimano beach of the municipality of Lavreotiki Attica: 32 citizen complaints were examined. Arbitrary occupation of the beach and illegal constructions by the company operating there were found. The authorities proceeded to seal the business, as well as to impose a fine of 30,764 euros.
13) Beaches of Glaro, Agia Fotini and Karfa in Chios: A total of 35 citizen complaints were examined. In a total of 22 concessions, 6 violations were found that related to the occupation by umbrella seats of additional beach area beyond what was agreed upon.
14) Schoinia and Zouberi beach in Eastern Attica: 30 citizen complaints were examined. Among the 4 businesses in Schinias, one business was identified with an excess of space occupied by umbrella seats, while at Zouberi beach no violation was found among the 6 businesses operating there.
According to the ministry, the checks are going to continue even more intensively in the next period, with priority in those areas with the most complaints from citizens, but also in those where there is a large number of named complaints.
At the same time, within the next few days drone flights will be carried out in areas of the Cyclades and the Dodecanese in order to establish any violations by the concessionaires of the beaches.
The Minister of National Economy and Finance, Kostis Hatzidakis, said in this regard: “With continuous controls throughout the country and utilizing modern technologies, we are putting into practice our intention to implement legality everywhere. The mass checks of the last few days show that the image on the beaches is clearly more improved than in previous years.
There are, however, foci of illegality which are identified – often with the contribution of the citizens themselves – and are dealt with by applying the legislation in its entirety.
Our goal is to protect, on the one hand, both the environment and the citizen’s right to free access to the beach, and on the other hand, to preserve our tourist product as well as the healthy entrepreneurship represented by entrepreneurs who do the job right their”.