Travellers gathering to watch the sunset at Oia on the island of Santorini, 30 June 2024. With the number of visitors to the island of Santorini increasing unchecked, the authorities are beginning to think about imposing certain limits on the number of travellers. Photo: XAVIER DUVOT/Hans Lucas/AFP (Getty Images)
Thousands of cruise ship passengers turned the charming Greek island of Santorini into standing-room-only hell Wednesday, proving once again it really is the worst way to travel.
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Santorini is probably what you imagine when you picture Greece in your head; it’s just that picturesque. Naturally the island of 15,500 residents is a draw for the Mediterranean’s booming cruise ship industry. The island can technically handle seven of these building-size boats at a time, Express reports, but when they all show up at once it becomes a problem, mostly for the people who actually live there. From Kathimerini:
A social media post by Panagiotis Kavallaris, president of the Thira municipal community, which was later deleted, urged residents to limit their movements due to the surge in tourist traffic. The post attracted widespread attention and criticism, with some suggesting that residents were being restricted for the benefit of tourism.
On Tuesday, a meeting was held involving high-ranking officials from various ministries, the mayor of Thira (Santorini), the governor of the South Aegean region and MPs from the Cyclades. The discussion highlighted urgent issues, including the need to limit the number of cruises to the island.
Santorini Mayor Nikos Zorzos told Kathimerini that the number of cruise passengers disembarking on the island should not exceed 8,000 per day. “Starting in 2025, we will reinstate this cap to preserve our island as a unique destination,” Zorzos said.
He explained that it was not possible to impose limits on cruise arrivals this year due to the advance planning of such trips. However, the municipal authority has managed to reduce the number of peak days, where visitors exceed 10,000-11,000, from 63 last year to 48 this year.
Only 48 days a year will folks be asses-to-elbows with each other in the streets of your home town. How generous! Between overcrowding beautiful places, creating horrific pollution, killing endanger whales, covering up sexual assaults and giving you GI diseases that’ll keep you in your cabin for the whole trip, I just can’t seem to see the appeal of a Cruise vacation is. I don’t know, maybe they’re great, but they seem like absolute hell.
A version of this article originally appeared on Jalopnik.
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