Dark red like a face lacking oxygen. The left-wing daily Efsyn cartography “the suffocation zones of Athens”, stifled by tourism and rising property prices.
“Athens, one of the oldest but at the same time one of the newest metropolises in the world, is a victim of hypertourism and its consequences”, writes the newspaper, which denounces the proliferation of hotels and short-term rental accommodation in the city.
“The worst consequence is the increase in rents and the unavailability of housing,” adds the Greek daily. Between 2022 and 2023, house prices increased by 11%.
“The city is dying”
Efsyn echoes a study carried out by the Athens town hall on the Greek capital’s relationship with tourism, its evolution and its consequences. “The city is moving towards a tourist monoculture”, notes the newspaper.
“The characteristics of Athens neighborhoods are transforming, affecting neighboring municipalities,” regret Efsyn, for whom the observation is implacable: “The city is dying.”
The average rent now stands at 1,450 euros in certain areas of the center of the capital, at 1,700 euros in the most touristy areas of Monastiraki and Plaka, the newspaper lists. Prices that have become largely unaffordable, in a country where the minimum wage is 830 euros gross and where 81.2% of employees have an income of less than 1,500 euros.
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