By Chrysostomos Tsoufis

The winners of a total of 1200 online auctions held for the first time this year to determine the concessionaires are being concluded today and subsequently posted.

The fact that today they won the concession to exploit a beach, does not mean that tomorrow the inspectors will knock on their door to see if everything is in order. As happens in such cases, there will be a reasonable period of adjustment which, however, according to the information of skai.gr, will be completed around the middle of June. Then for the violators it will “rain” fines.

Fines which vary according to the type of offence. According to the new framework, among the obligations of concessionaires are:

  • Ensuring that at least 50% of the beach remains free. The area of ​​each concession cannot exceed 500 sq.m.
  • Umbrella seats occupy up to 60% of the concession or 30% for beaches in Natura areas. They should be at least 4 meters from the sea.
  • The distance between concessions should be at least 6 meters
  • Free and unhindered access for the public, special provisions for disabled people
  • Placing a sign in a prominent place with the details of the concession
  • Lifeguard existence

Penalties

Arbitrary occupation: seal and shut down the business in the occupied premises, seal the premises with tape and prohibit entry and any economic activity in it. A fine equal to four times the price of the concession is imposed and the violator is excluded from any beach and beach concession process for five years.

Exceeding the concession: For excesses of more than 30%, exclusion from participation in auctions for 5 years and suspension of the operation of the business are foreseen. Fines are provided for smaller excesses.

Obstructing free public access: Fines from €2,000 to €60,000

Changes in the environment: Criminal penalties

The control of the beaches will be done in 4 ways:

On-site audits: Mixed levels of auditors from the Ministry of Finance, the Real Estate Service, AADE, the Municipality, ELAS and the prosecution authorities.

Drone flights. The first checks began in areas with many complaints such as in Halkidiki and the findings are sent to the local land services for the necessary…

Satellite images: In collaboration with the University of the Aegean, the Ministry of Digital Governance and the Hellenic Space Center.

Citizen input: Through the MyCoast app, citizens can view the details of the concessions and act as auditors, whenever they find ‘irregularities’ to report them.