Hordes of tourists have poured off a ferry to the small Greek holiday destination of Santorini, amid fears that the steady stream of holidaymakers will make the island uninhabitable.
Harrowing footage showed long lines of people getting off a ferry as people waiting to board queued en masse in the heat.
Locals are increasingly outraged by the perceived overcrowding of the picturesque Aegean island, with councillor Panos Kavallaris saying that 17,000 tourists are expected daily during peak season.
“I work seasonally here in Santorini,” one person commented under the TikTok clip. “There is no respect for the island or us, from littering to times when the buses don’t take us.”
‘Santorini was a stop on our cruise last year,’ added one aggrieved tourist, seeing the lines. ‘Never should have gotten off (and won’t next time). One Instagram spot, litter everywhere and completely overcrowded streets.’
The volcanic island, with a population of about 15,500, welcomed some 3.5 million tourists last year, with more expected to arrive by 2024.
Video footage shows huge crowds disembarking from a ferry amid complaints about overtourism
Santorini has only 15,500 inhabitants, but welcomed around 3.5 million tourists last year
Hundreds of tourists sit on the steep hills of Santorini to watch and photograph the famous sunset on July 25, 2024
Shocking images from the picturesque island show crowds of tourists queuing on narrow walkways past white buildings with the famous sea-blue domes for the most beautiful holiday photos
Furious locals have threatened to leave Santorini after officials ordered them to stay away from the thousands of tourists (some pictured above this month) who travel to the tiny island every day
Victor Karayannis, a local guide on the island, shared footage of tourists arriving in Santorini with the caption: ‘I heard on the news that Santorini doesn’t have that many tourists these days… cap (false)’.
The video received mixed reactions, with some saying they had visited quieter parts of the island or seen fewer pedestrians when they travelled outside peak months.
One said: ‘The harbour is always a bit chaotic, yes, but Santorini gets an unfair bad reputation. It’s beautiful and there are quieter areas, like Perissa. I’ve just had a 10/10 holiday here.’
“I’m so glad I went in 2007, before Instagram influencers even existed!” added another.
“Honestly, what did you expect in the middle of July?” said a third.
But for many people on the island, the mass arrival of tourists poses a potentially existential threat.
Santorini has been dependent on tourism since the 1960s, before which the economy was mainly dependent on agriculture.
“They have to find the right balance,” hotel worker Onur Kilic, 28, told the i“They could limit the number of cruise ships, but the government is not doing enough. If this continues, I will leave the island.”
A few days earlier, Mr Kavallaris had urged residents in a now-deleted Facebook post to stay home and avoid the 17,000 tourists he said authorities expected on the island each day.
“Another difficult day awaits us for our city and island with the arrival of 17,000 cruise ship visitors. We ask for your attention: limit your movements as much as possible,” the councilor said, but the post quickly caused outrage among the local population.
Residents criticized the councilor’s request. One wrote on social media: “(He) is officially asking locals to lock themselves in their homes so tourists can walk around freely. Great.”
Shocking images from the picturesque island this week show crowds of tourists queuing on narrow walkways past white buildings with the famous sea-blue domes for the most beautiful holiday snaps.
The queue for the viewpoint in the clifftop village of Oia can now take more than 20 minutes.
Santorini is a key stop on the Greek cruise experience. But with parts of the island nearing saturation, officials are considering restrictions.
“We have to set limits if we don’t want to be destroyed by overtourism,” said Nikos Zorzos, mayor of Santorini.
“There should not be any extra beds… neither in the big hotels nor in the Airbnb rentals.”
Hundreds of tourists gather in the village of Oia on Santorini to watch the sunset on July 20.
Tourists leave after watching the sunset in Santorini from Oia Castle, Santorini, Greece
Concerns about overtourism and its impact on local people have led to mass protests across Europe this year, with residents demanding restrictions on short-term rentals to tackle rising house prices and encourage greater diversification of the economy.
Earlier this month, hundreds of Alicante residents gathered for the first time to protest in parts of the Spanish city popular with tourists, demanding “that restrictions be imposed on the tourism sector”.
Salva, spokesman for the organising group ‘Alicante donde vas?’, told MailOnline: ‘It is the administrations (city council, autonomous region, central government) that must take measures to put the needs of the people who live in the city first, compared to the wishes of those who visit the city.
‘We hope that the demonstration is a first step so that more people feel that it is legitimate to demand the right to a dignified life in our city and that together they can build a neighbourhood movement that says that Alicante is not for sale.’
In early July, tourists in Barcelona were sprayed with water pistols after residents expressed their displeasure at the lack of action by local authorities.
Under the slogan “Enough! Let’s put limits on tourism,” some 2,800 people marched through a waterfront neighborhood in Barcelona to demand a new economic model that would reduce the millions of tourists who visit each year, according to police.
Protesters carried signs reading “Barcelona is not for sale” and “Tourists, go home,” after which some used water pistols against tourists eating outside at restaurants in popular tourist spots.
There were cries of ‘Tourists out of our neighborhood’ as some stood outside the entrances of hotels.
Barcelona’s soaring house prices, which have increased by 68 percent in the past decade, are one of the main issues facing the movement, along with the impact of tourism on local commerce and working conditions in the city of 1.6 million.
According to real estate website Idealista, rents in tourist cities such as Barcelona and Madrid rose by 18% in June compared to a year earlier.
For years, the city has sported anti-tourist graffiti with messages such as “tourists, go home”, aimed at visitors who are blamed for rising prices and economic development around tourists.
An England supporter stands among the crowd at the tourist office as protesters look on
A banner is held aloft during a march against overtourism in Alicante earlier this month
Another said ‘F*** AirBnB’, expressing locals’ frustration with the vacation rental company
In April, violent clashes broke out in Venice over a controversial new “tourist tax” aimed at limiting the number of visitors to the historic Italian city.
Protesters armed with placards and banners lined the Italian city’s historic canals and narrow alleys to show their disdain for the unique new policy aimed at tackling overtourism during peak periods.
Critics argue that the €5 (£4.30) charge, which will be introduced during the busy summer months, is unlikely to significantly reduce the 30 million or so trips made to Venice each year and could be counterproductive and damage the city’s image.
Under the new rules, tourists visiting the city who do not stay overnight will have to pay a surcharge.
Authorities hope this will help manage the flow of some 30 million tourists who visit the city’s history and romantic canals each year.
Venice has had a long wait for the plan to be implemented, as initial proposals from 2019 were delayed due to the pandemic.
Last year, the city also abandoned the plan to charge day trippers €10 per day, because there was ‘resistance’.
