Islands buckling under burden of hypertourism

The mayors of Santorini, Serifos and Lefkada have raised the banner of despair over the effects of hypertourism on the sustainability of resources on the Greek islands.

The mayor of Santorini, Nikos Zorzos, described a dramatic situation at a conference titled "Insularity and Sustainability: Islands on the Edge," organized on Friday by the Hellenic Society for Environment and Cultural Heritage and the University of the Aegean, about the situation on the island.

"From 2012 to 2019, water consumption doubled. From 2019 to 2022 it increased by 18%, from 2022 to 2023 by 22%. The desalination which we calculated would cover us for 15 years, lasted for five years. Power consumption on the island went from 32.5 MW in the peak season in 2019 to 59 MW last year and will exceed 65 MW this year," Zorzos said, referring to a long list of sustainability issues.