Paros (Greece) (AFP) โ Restaurant owners on the Greek tourist island of Paros staged a 24-hour shutdown Thursday to protest against zoning regulations blocking them from using part of the island harbour's beachfront.
"There is uproar among the professionals on the island because for five years now, since around 2018, they have not been able to legally rent the coastal front" at the main port of Parikia, Paros Mayor Costas Bizas told AFP.
Fines for illegal occupation of beach space have increased fourfold, Bizas said, hitting restaurants that rely on the hundreds of thousands of visitors to Paros each year.
He noted that the government had pledged to address the issue months ago.
"Summer is here. There are thousands of visitors who want to enjoy their meal on the Parikia coastal front, and there are other areas in Paros that have a similar problem," Bizas said.
One restaurant owner, Nicolas Giannoulis, said part of the problem was that a 30-year-old walkway along the beach, built by previous municipal authorities, had been declared illegal for unauthorised seating.
"We want to pay and get a license" to utilise the space for tables, said Giannoulis, 35. "We cannot wait every time for July or August to find out if we will be allowed to set up tables during a season that begins in April or May."
"It's been a big struggle to issue our permits in order to get the licensing to use for our outdoor seating areas where we put our tables and chairs for at least 30 years," said fellow restaurant operator Olga Mira, 38.
"The bureaucracy changed so much that suddenly this area is not legal anymore," she said.
Gina Lavine, a visitor from Canada, lamented the empty tables and closed parasols.
"I think that we should be allowed to go sit at those tables and have the waiters come serve us," she said. "I don't think the government should be charging them to offer service to the tourists."