In Greece, the surge in visitors to the Greek islands is once again creating problems and concerns for both the local inhabitants and visitors, as the island’s infrastructures are being stretched to breaking point by the rise in the number of tourists year on year. Many islands are suffering from water shortages due to excessive use, leading to breaks in supply. The problem has been made worse by low rainfall during last winter.

One island we cover in our travel guides is Thassos, which in the last few years has seen an explosion of tourists from the Balkan countries, putting unacceptable strain on the island’s infrastructure. Two major problems are that the majority of Balkan visitors drive to Thassos, increasing the number of vehicles on the island exponentially and as on other islands, several villages are experiencing water shortages due to the increased demand. As Thassos is the most northerly of the Aegean islands and near to its neighbouring countries, queues many miles long form at the northern border crossings into Greece. The locals in Keramoti, the small mainland port servicing the island, have declared that it is at breaking point with the deluge of vehicles, either waiting for a ferry to cross to Thassos or those returning home. During the weekend of the Holy Spirit celebrations, June 22 – 24, the queue of vehicles for the Thassos ferries extended nearly 20 km out of Keramoti.

A further problem, but not only for Greece, is the number and ever-increasing size of cruise ships visiting major destinations. One example is the small island of Santorini, which this summer is seeing up to six cruise ships a day dropping anchor and disembarking thousands of extra tourists onto an already crowded island. More than 500 large buses, 4,000 minibuses and vans, hundreds of quads, tourist rental vehicles and delivery vehicles, all create major traffic jams, added to this is the impossibility of parking in many areas. Many on the island see Santorini suffocating under the unacceptable pressure of over-tourism.

Greece is renowned worldwide for “Philoxenia”, a deeply ingrained cultural philosophy of warmly welcoming all and every visitor, but the present situation is certainly putting a strain on that conviction.

Across Europe

In Barcelona, as well as other major Spanish tourist destinations such as the Canary Islands and Majorca, major demonstrations by locals against over-tourism are taking place. On Majorca, every inch of the beach is taken and finding a parking space in the resorts is almost impossible.

On the Spanish mainland, the local councils are increasing the taxes that are levied on visitors, with Barcelona city council recently imposing a radical plan to rid the city of its roughly 10,000 tourist accommodation licences over the next five years. There is also talk of restricting the number of international flights into the affected areas.

In Italy, the problem is also causing major local disquiet in such destinations as Genoa, Pisa and Venice.

In France, the Calanques, the islands of Bréhat and Porquerolles and several sites on the island of Corsica have all introduced annual quotes for tourists during the summer season, and all visits must now be booked in advance.

One of the many problems sighted in all the European tourist hotspots, is the loss of permanent accommodation for locals and seasonal business staff, as landlords cash in on the tourism bonanza by converting their properties into short-term holiday rentals, attracted by the growth of the independent accommodation market, such as Airbnb.

The problem though is extremely difficult to resolve, as is the case in such dilemmas and needs radical government intervention. However, governments are well aware of the increase in tax revenues tourism brings and that the voting population falls into two opposing camps, on the one hand are the business owners who are making the most of the financial bonanza and on the other, the local inhabitants whose lives are being blighted by over-tourism.

One glimmer of hope is that some governments and businesses are starting to see that the disadvantages are now outweighing the rewards.