The iconic Greek island of Santorini this week was in the spotlight again after a local councilman advised residents, via his Facebook account, to stay put due to the expected mass influx of cruise passengers.
In his post, Panos Kavalaris said on Tuesday that it would be a “difficult day” due to the arrival of cruise ships carrying some 17,000 passengers. He went on to add that the island’s hotels and accommodation facilities were fully booked and that the arrival of so many cruise travelers would create congestion.
“Since tourists have occupied every space on the island, residents will have to remain in a ‘special’ form of lockdown in order not to make their lives even more difficult,” the post, which was later deleted, read.
The councilman advised readers to consider his post as an emergency announcement and take heed.
Cruise Ship Arrivals Taking Toll on Local Life
In interviews to local media this week, Kavalaris has repeatedly raised the issue of overtourism and overcrowding due to the numerous arrivals of cruise ships visiting Santorini.
The post comes days after a massive protest in Palma de Mallorca and earlier in Barcelona, Malaga and the Canary Islands, about the impact of overtourism on the lives of locals.
There are days that Santorini – 76.19km2 (29.41 sq miles) in total – welcomes more than 17,000 visitors, putting pressure on energy and water supplies and affecting waste management as well as the quality of services offered.
Commenting on the incident in an interview to an Athens-area television station, Thira (Santorini) Mayor Nikos (Anastasios) Zorzos said the island was taking targeted actions to avoid “becoming Barcelona”, adding that the goal was for the highly popular destination to become attractive and sustainable. The post, he said, was not something he would have done.
On his part, Kavalaris said his words and intentions were “distorted” and misunderstood. “The post was completely misinterpreted. We were trying to help residents…particularly in view of the [hot] weather,” he said.
Local authorities on the volcanic island with the incomparable Caldera have announced several actions over the years to help decongest the island, including the launch of a berthing allocation system that would regulate the number of incoming cruise ships, a cap on cruise ship arrivals, and even the possibility of a visitor tax. None of these ideas have been implemented, however.
Greek PM Says Measures in the Pipeline
In June, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told Bloomberg that the government was examining a cap on cruise ship arrivals and even the possibility of slot auctions. Both CLIA (Cruise Lines International Association) and the Greek Union of Cruise Ship Owners and Shipping Agencies (EEKFN) have consented to a daily cap as part of efforts to improve the visitor experience.
Indicative of the challenge the island faces, some 800 cruise ships made port calls to Santorini in 2023, up from 686 in 2022, carrying some 1.3 million passengers eager to visit the renowned Cyclades island. With demand for cruise travel growing, in 2025 the number of cruise passengers arriving on Santorini is expected to reach 1.5 million.
