Unprecedented announcement to Santorini Residents: “17,000 came by cruise ships, reduce your travel”

An elected councillor in Santorini is urging his fellow citizens to stay home because tourists are “landing” in Thira.

An unprecedented announcement shocked the residents of Santorini this week when a municipal councillor called on them to limit their movements due to over-tourism.

In his Facebook announcement, Panos Kavalaris described it as a “difficult day” for Santorini, with 17,000 visitors expected from cruise ships. Overcrowding was anticipated, and since accommodation was already scarce, Kavalaris suggested residents endure a peculiar type of lockdown to avoid further complications. In a quasi “112 message,” residents were warned of the incoming tourist influx and advised to limit their movements.

Specifically, the post read: “Emergency Announcement. Another difficult day for our city and island with the arrival of 17,000 visitors from cruise ships!!! We ask for your attention and we reduce our movements as much as we can!!!”

Shortly after 3 pm, the post was deleted from Panos Kavalaris’ Facebook profile.

Even if one accepts that the announcement was made “with the best of intentions,” it is clear that the situation in Santorini is out of control, according to LIFO, Greece’s largest weekly free newspaper. Recently, the mayor of Santorini announced a “ceiling” on the number of cruise ship visitors to manage the island’s infrastructure, but it appears this measure is not being enforced.

“Contrary to other regions of the world where residents react to hyper-tourism that threatens to fundamentally alter the cultural identity of their homeland, in Greece in general and in Santorini in particular, no organised protest has been recorded,” reads the article. “In Spain recently, the anti-overtourism movement has flared up, with large protest rallies organised every weekend against the phenomenon that affects housing and the quality of life of permanent residents.”

Now, Santorini residents—numbering 15,480 according to the 2021 census—are being asked to accommodate 17,000 tourists arriving daily from cruise ships, in addition to those already on the island or arriving by other means.

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