A series of violations regarding the use of beaches and coastlines by businesses, primarily for sunbeds and beach umbrellas, were revealed during on-site inspections conducted by the National Transparency Authority in areas of Eastern Attica, Greece.
All the businesses that were inspected had entered into agreements for the use of the beach-coastline with the authorities.
The inspection found the following violations:
– 83 per cent had set up sunbeds on the beach area in an extent greater than the allocated space, ranging from 86 sqm up to 800 sqm.
– 50 per cent occupied a space multiple times the allocated area for the operation of mobile or towed cantinas.
– 83 per cent did not adhere to the defined coverage percentage of the allocated beach area, which stands at 60 per cent, and for areas incorporated into the Natura network, at 30 per cent of the allocated space.
– 67 per cent did not have a sign displaying the plan and photograph of the allocated area, as stipulated by the relevant legislation, to easily indicate any breach of allocation boundaries.
In one case, there was an issue regarding the fulfillment of the requirement for 50 per cent of the total to be a freely accessible beach area.
During the inspections, tax violations were also identified (17 per cent of those inspected), as well as insurance violations (67 per cent).
Following the inspections and violations, legal procedures are said to follow.
Source: AMNA
