Ermou Street

The city of Thessaloniki is on Monday launching a new scheme restricting parking in the downtown area in a bid to curb traffic congestion.

In the first phase of the scheme, motorists will have to pay to park in the historic district of Ano Poli, as well as on certain stretches of Pavlou Mela, Mitropoleos, Ermou and Ethnikis Amynas.

Mid-season sales aimed at boosting the flagging retail market will be starting in most parts of the country on Wednesday, November 1, and running for two weeks through Wednesday, November 15.

The Ash in Art School is organizing its first annual festival of art and acceptance for children, to take place on the pedestrian part of Ermou Street in central Athens on Saturday, October 7. The festival aims to bring together kids from different backgrounds in activities involving drawing and painting, while there will also be special musical performances.

Wrapping up a visit to Greece, French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, departed from the official program Friday to stroll down a crowded central Athens shopping street, delighting selfie-thirsty pedestrians but inconveniencing those unfortunate enough to get stuck in the ensuing traffic jams.

Traders on Ermou Street in central Athens are paying a heavy price, not only for the damage sustained by their stores a few days ago following a demonstration, but also for a hefty drop in turnover.

Athens Mayor Giorgos Kaminis and the head of the Athens Traders' Association, Stavros Kafounis, have filed suit against all parties involved over the destruction of 67 shop windows on commercial Ermou Street on July 17 by self-styled anarchists.

Amid a spike of protests and vandalism by self-styled anarchists, Alternate Citizens' Protection Minister Nikos Toskas has told Kathimerini that authorities have an overview of their activities and identities, and "will gradually immobilize them."

A huge vacuum that leaves citizens exposed and defenseless lurks behind the smashed shop windows on Ermou Street. Athens, and society by extension, has been dealt a blow, not just from the violence on Monday in reaction to the continued incarceration of a convicted member of an urban guerrilla group but also from that against the opening of stores on some Sundays.

The Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry (EBEA) is demanding compensation for the owners of 42 shops in the city center that suffered damage from vandals during a protest on Monday night.

As shopkeepers assessed the damage from a vandalism spree by self-styled anarchists in the capital's central Ermou Street on Monday night, the general secretary for public order, Dimitris Anagnostakis, on Wednesday sought to play down the riots, describing them as "isolated incidents."