Overwhelmed by Tourists: Santorini's Mayor Urges Locals to Stay Home

The mayor of Santorini, Greece, Panos Kavalieris, is deeply concerned about the upcoming tourist influx to his island: 17,000 tourists are expected to arrive for family vacations this summer, prompting him to ask residents to stay indoors to avoid the unbearable crowding. Although the post was deleted within minutes, it wasn't enough for the locals: they demanded that the government address the congestion rather than ask them to remain inside.

Santorini is the most visited island in Greece, attracting 2 million tourists annually, with unbearable overcrowding during the summer. The island is known for its iconic whitewashed buildings, but this beauty comes at a price: there are about 100 tourists for every resident at any given time. Every day, more and more tourist ships arrive, exacerbating the burden on the residents.

Kavalieris decided to post out of fear that the crowding would only worsen, but instead of addressing the problem of over-tourism, he seems to have disregarded the frustrated residents. For the locals, it was simply too much: the mayor’s warning reminded them of the lockdown experience during the COVID-19 period.

In the now-deleted post, Kavalieris wrote: "This is an emergency announcement. Another difficult day awaits our city and island. 17,000 cruise visitors will arrive." A screenshot of the post quickly reached Greek media, who have been eagerly covering the story in recent days.

It was also reported that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced a significant cutback on cruise ship arrivals to Greece due to overcrowding. Even residents of Athens claim that the congestion is unbearable.