Surge of foreign visitors sparks backlash in historic Athens

Surrounded by a hubbub of blaring music, restaurant terraces and rumbling suitcase wheels slaloming between overflowing litter bins, Giorgos Zafeiriou believes surging tourism has made his historic Athens neighbourhood unrecognisable.

- MARINA RAFENBERG

The Greek capital's Plaka district “is threatened by overtourism”, said Mr Zafeiriou, who has lived there for more than three decades and leads its residents' association.

This year, 10 million people are expected to visit Athens, an increase of two million from 2024 which reflects the city's growing popularity as a tourist destination since the Covid-19 pandemic ended.

Despite its label as the cradle of Western civilisation, Athens was previously regarded as a mere stopping point between the airport and the port of Piraeus, from where tourists explore Greece's myriad of picturesque islands.

Nicknamed “the neighbourhood of the gods”, Plaka is nestled below the ancient Acropolis hill, a world heritage site hosting the millennia-old Parthenon temple, which welcomed almost 4.5 million visitors last year.

Plaka is now awash with tourists who navigate its warren of narrow streets lined with cafes, taverns, souvenir shops, small Byzantine churches and relics from Antiquity and the Ottoman era.

Plaka “is Europe's oldest neighbourhood, which has been inhabited continuously since Antiquity’, said Lydia Carras, head of the Ellet association working to preserve the environment and cultural heritage.