The asymmetry between what Greece is selling as a tourist product and the infrastructure it needs to be sustainable is striking. I won’t get into whether there are destinations that are losing their soul at a rapid rate. Those of us who love the authentic Greek taverna on the seafront and the summer images of a fishing village in the Cyclades abhor the mass influx of tourists and the head waiter with the headset asking if “table 14B is ready.” But we can understand the argument that “this is what the customers who come now want,” and it will take a few years to see who is right – if this new model will stand the test of time and continue to attract those looking for something different in our country.
But this is an existential discussion. The debate on the country’s infrastructure is not. The examples are endless. Milos is considered a top destination this season. Something is being built almost everywhere you look and despite the fact that, with a huge delay, hotel permits were frozen in some areas, you see how the island’s landscape has been ruined in some places of unsurpassed beauty. You also arrive at its airport and see broken toilets from the 1970s and a waiting area that can hold only half the passengers. If there is a delay, the passengers of the previous flight have to go out into the courtyard and wait angrily under the blazing sun and stifling heat.
