Record beach concessions and inspections

A photo released by the Ministry of National Economy and Finance on Monday of one of 14 beaches around the country that were inspected after a barrage of complaints by citizens, mainly through the MyCoast app, where violations by businesses can be reported. The inspections were conducted by services of the Finance Ministry in cooperation with the Hellenic Police and local municipalities. Tellingly, more than 1,000 citizen complaints were examined in just five days. Of these, 604 were submitted through the MyCoast app, as well as hundreds of telephone complaints (over 400). The inspections showed that the overall picture on the beaches allocated for business activity is clearly better than in previous years. However, a number of the businesses inspected were found to have committed infringements, such as exceeding the area occupied by additional umbrellas and other structures. Three businesses were shut down for not having a concession contract. A total of more than €350,000 in fines have been imposed so far. [FINANCE MINISTRY/AMNA]

Beach concessions to businesses reached a record 1,650 this summer, far higher than the initial estimate of 1,200 by the Ministry of Finance.

In another 150 cases, there were no concessions, either because there was not enough interest or because the chosen concessionaire backed away from the deal.

At the same time, complaints have soared about businesses violating the terms of their concessions, either by expanding their operations to areas not included in the concession terms or changing the nature of the business. In an extreme case, a businessperson who won a concession to operate a food cart on a public beach built installations for, and operated, a cafe-bar.

As a result, state and local governments conducted 10,000 inspections in July alone. The Finance Ministry announced that over 1,100 businesses have been inspected, including 290 in the past week. And...

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