http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...ok-961413.html

Dear God no! Is there a petition I can sign?

I thought most of it was already ruined.

Pretend you didn't write that, but someone else wrote it about something you cared deeply for. What would your response be? That's mine to you.

Fra Diavolo, brotherlee shows restraint. Your thoughtless remark just shows how little you know.

Lee, Perhaps our TA Athens friends will know what action if any that tourists can take that would have any impact.

Please let me know if I can help in any way. We are planning a trip to Greece next summer and I can understand your stress about this situation.
Laurie

"What would your response be?"

Well, I'd phrase it, "for which you cared deeply."

That would at least suggest a reverence for Mother English!

But seriously (folks), I thought the Greek Islands had long ago been given over to cheap construction and campaigns to lure English lager louts -- am I misinformed?

if this "development disaster" comes to pass, it would be tragic.

We may have a temporary reprieve due to the present credit crisis in the world's financial markets, which will inhibit cheap debt-fueled construction bubbles of the sort that happened in USA during the last 5 years.

OTOH, if the Greek gov't is desperate for cash, they could end up 'selling the farm' for a pittance

English is not a Mother language and ending a sentence with preposition is not a crime. Your feeble attempt to deflect the issue away from your obvious insensitivity is surpassed only by your pedantry.

Take it from someone who knew many of the islands from many years ago, Fra Diavolo is correct. I was really shocked and horrified on my last trip to see bucolic scenes turned into tourist and architectural schlock.

I must have blinkers over my eyes. My love affair with the Cyclades has only just begun and that's after visiting the touristy islands of Mykonos, Santorini and Paros. Despite the obvious tacky tourist sights I saw only beauty - low rise developments in sympathy with surroundings, clean unspoilt and uncrowded beaches, cubist architecture, laid back atmosphere, bygone era charm, affordable and simple accommodation with self catering facilities and a view to die for. Any large scale development that threatens this Cycladic utopia should be vehemently opposed in order to preserve it for future generations (oh, and for me too).

I've been going to Greece since 1985. I too have seen the changes. I know what the islands were like before the current level of mass tourism took hold, and I don't take the contrast lightly. The seriousness of this threat to one of the most beautiful places on Earth should not be diminished by shallow, one-dimensional cynicism.

It is worrying. I've been visiting Greece since the early 90s and have also noticed many changes. The person who wrote "I thought most of it was already ruined" does not know Greece well. Yes, there are resort areas I would not go anywhere near but even on the busier islands, there are still plenty of beautiful and unspoilt areas. I do worry at how appropriate some of the current development is - e.g. the huge golf resorts being built, such as the one near the beautiful Voidokilia on the Peloponnese. I have seen a lot of debate about these on other sites but I don't believe that is the kind of development that most visitors for Greece are looking for.

On our recent trip to mainland Greece, we got into conversation with the owner of the hotel in Zagoria. I asked him if there had been any fires in that area, to which he replied "no, there is no profit in it here" and implied that there was already a lot of corruption in the Greek planning system. I wouldn't have thought with the current economic climate that it would be a good time to expand building plans but I don't suppose that will stop the greedy developers.

I've been visiting the islands for more than 40 years and, similar to Lee's comments, I too have seen many changes. Some have been good, some very, very bad.

It can occasionally be difficult to find a balance. So many islands (but not all) rely heavily on tourist income and as such, over the years, the islanders have cared little about some of the concrete palaces that have been built. Of course, that is generalisation as not ALL islanders will feel like that, but many do. After reading the link I can think of a few islands and mainland resorts that would have difficulty finding any further land to build on! Like many regulars here, I can also think of many places in Greece that I would hate to see change.

One thing I cannot find any mention of in the article is municipality powers and control.

Those local island municipalities can be and are very powerful and I wonder if they will allow what is proposed to happen in 'their' communities. There have been government dictats in the past that I bet those local authorities have chosen to ignore.

Bill

Perhaps Fra Diavolo's comment was a pun? Just a thought.

After visiting 6 different Greek islands , I only found one ruined: Rhodes! A tourist trap. Just awful !

I loved the Cycliades!

I think if you will study the inquiries that come into a forum like Trip Advisor that has many UK queries, you can track where overdevelopment has occurred, and avoid those Isles.

The islands that have enlarged their airports for cheap charter or bargain airlines flighta and dredged their ports for cruise ships have gone for huge "package holiday" crowds. Jerry-built hotels accommodate throngs from UK, Germany, Ireland and other EU places attracted by the price.Parts of Crete, Rhodes, Ios, Kos Corfu, Zakynthos, Peloponnese sites -- the list goes on. There ARE islands so far that have resisted air & seaport enlargement so far, for the "package" business, such as Naxos.

One can avoid this commercialization simply by noting what areas attract the most forum inquiries by people who want a cheap package holiday -- and avoiding those areas. By doing this, in 7 trips since 99, I have enjoyed many wonderful experiences in serene and beautiful byways.

This horrifying new legalization of greed will increase the pressures on people who want to preserve some part of their way of life.

Perhaps Fra Diavolo, (who says "I thought that" and asks if he has been "misinformed&quot has never actually visited Greece himself, and relies on the British press for his facts. In this case we cannot blame him but only pity him.

I never said you shouldn't try to preserve what's left -- only a that a great deal of it was already ruined, a statement amply confirmed by the previous posting.

Each to his own, no?

thank you billbarr! Wonderful writing and with wisdom too. I agree with what you say.

You know, we have been fortunate to have traveled to Greece a few times and loved every one of those trips. I always pick up on the Greece threads here as the country left a huge impression on us. Let us hope the proposed changes are challenged.

So, to bill, travelerjan, brotherleelove, heimdal, gaspard and others who pass on their advice and knowledge regularly...thanks!

joe

You don't have a clue brotherleelove2004 because you don't travel in the Greek Islands anyway, you have almost zero experience, you just stay in Oia. That is NOT experiencing the Greek islands by any strech of the imagination.

travellerjan, your anti-British stance is utter nonsense in the extreme, you are completely ignorant of the UK travel/package holiday scene, do stop misleading people.