August clear sky Temperatures above thirty degrees. They are the perfect ingredients to spend a relaxed holiday on the beach, that wide sandy esplanade located by the sea. Or that's what a beach should be: a place with enough space to plant your parasol and stretch out your towel in complete comfort. Conditions that do not occur on the beaches of the Greek island of Paros.
The sandy beaches of the Hellenic island are overrun with paid sunbeds and umbrellas, so many that you can barely see the sand. And in fact, several private companies are making their own August, occupying around 20,000 square meters of beach to develop their economic activity. A surface that almost triples the legally allowed, 2,000 square meters. Not to mention the exorbitant prices of this service: around 120 euros for the sunbeds located in the first row and around 40 euros for the ones behind.
In view of this situation, as if it were a war, the inhabitants of the Greek island have declared themselves in rebellion to recover the territory taken by the sunbeds: the towel movement has begun. A peaceful rebellion, with bathing suit, flip-flops and towel in hand, but with a clear objective: "Reclaim the beach", as one of the banners carried by the demonstrators in a recent protest that ran along the edge of the beach says of Santa Maria
Fed up with this injustice, the residents have set up the Paros Citizens' Movement for Free Beaches. Not only do they complain that they don't have enough space to find a place on the sand, but they also complain that the sun lounger rental bars act as gatekeepers, denying entry to those who refuse to pay for a service they don't need.
The citizens' platform argues that commercial activities are ruining the island while residents have limited space to enjoy the beach. "We claim our right to public space, the right to enjoy our beaches, which are being invaded by greedy, socially irresponsible entrepreneurs, who occupy them completely or exceed their limits even by 100 times the legal area allowed", assure the promoters of the towel movement.
The main beneficiaries of the wide range of sunbeds and umbrellas are tourists, although the citizens' movement stresses that the campaign is not against them, but only against illegal bars.
The controversy transcends the citizen sphere. The mayor of Paros, Markos Kovaios, has already taken letters. "The problem is real. We want to solve it and we will not allow any arbitrariness on our island. We are checking the companies for possible illegal occupation of part of the beach. The relevant expert reports have been sent to the State Real Estate Company, which is the agency to which all Greek beaches belong," the mayor explained to the Greek broadcaster ERT. For his part, the Greek Minister of Economy and Finance, Kostis Hatzidakis, assures that during August there will be an increase in the inspections of the beach bars to locate possible violations and, if this is the case, to sanction them. "We will not favor anyone", concludes the minister.
The action of the Greek Government is not strange considering that the protests are being reproduced on other islands. This is the case of Naxos, where the popular initiative Salvin les Platges de Naxos has collected thousands of signatures for a similar reason.
The pressure exerted by the protests is paying off. They have already closed three beach bars in Santa Maria after an investigation by the Prosecutor's Office which concluded that the spaces dedicated to this activity exceeded the legal limits. "It's a great victory, a start for something better," says a spokesperson for the Paros platform.
The towel movement has now broken out in Greece, although other coastal countries are also experiencing similar experiences. Without going any further, the parasol war has begun in Spain. The custom - not allowed by the authorities, although it continues to be done - of some people getting up early to book a place on the first line of the beach and then leaving has scattered the British. The Daily Mail tabloid accuses them of racism. The neighbors answer them: "Let them wake up".
There is also war on the beach.
