Tourism zoning plan’s flaws

Tourism is the absolute dominator in Greece's zoning plans, with hardly any restrictions imposed, as seen in the text of the new Special Zoning Plan for Tourism put up for public consultation on Wednesday.

The main feature of the framework is the promotion of large tourist facilities (with hotels and tourist villages with villas) which are essentially allowed everywhere, even in protected areas and on uninhabited islands. Notably, in the saturated tourist areas no substantial restriction is foreseen on the creation of new tourism units, beyond the type of new beds (only 4 or 5 stars), while the quotas that existed for the large tourist units on the islands have disappeared.

Although the third in a row, this draft by the ministries of Environment and Tourism will essentially be the first, as the previous two frameworks (2009 and 2013) were annulled by the Council of...