Vari

The new pedestrian-bicycle path along the so-called Athenian Riviera will be ready by the end of 2025.

A small section has already been built in Glyfada. However, it has met with reactions from the Municipality of Elliniko, as it passes through residential areas instead of along the beachfront, due to a large-scale investment currently being implemented there.

The 66-year-old man, who was arrested by the Directorate for Combating Arson Crimes (DAEE) for intentional and repeated forest arson, has been remanded in custody with the agreement of the investigating judge and prosecutor.

According to the charges, the 66-year-old caused four fires on June 8 and 9, 2024, in the Xeroma area of Vari, Attica.

The Council of State (CoS), the country's highest administrative court, has paved the way for mayors to suspend the enforcement of the bonus heights included in the new building regulation.

The conflict over building heights in Athens took on a new twist on Friday with the Technical Chamber of Greece (TEE) sending an out-of-court notice threatening lawsuits against the mayors of Alimos and Vari-Voula-Vouliagmeni, who have imposed a suspension of the issuance of construction permits that make use of bonuses included in the building regulation. 

Kifissia in northern Athens is the latest municipality to join the front against a bonus included in the building regulation which enables the construction of higher buildings.

In a unanimous decision on Thursday, Kifissia's municipal council requested the suspension of the issuance of new building permits making use of the bonuses.

Following in the footsteps of Alimos in southern Athens, the Municipality of Vari-Voula-Vouliagmeni instructed its planning department on Tuesday not to issue building permits that make use of the bonuses provided in the building regulation allowing taller buildings. 

Island municipalities issued the largest number of new building permits in 2023, with the top five comprising Lefkada and Zakynthos in the Ionian, Paros and Naxos in the Cyclades, and the Dodecanese island of Rhodes, according to the National Statistical Service of Greece (ELSTAT). 

Attica local authorities are putting an end to the issuance of building permits with height and square footage bonuses, as provided for in the New Building Regulations.

The concession of the necessary land for the creation of an "urban promenade" along Athens' southern coastal avenue was sealed on Monday with an agreement between the Hellenic Public Properties Company (ETAD), and the Region of Attica.

Residents of the areas of Vari and Voula will be in a state of emergency all night as a fire that raged for over eight hours throughout the day and into the night and appears to be receding.

It destroyed four homes in Voula and damaged about 20 houses. Automobiles also went up in flames.