Posted on 09/06/2025 3:24:40 PM PDT by nickcarraway
As the country experiences record tourism in 2025, Greece is taking stronger measures to protect its natural and cultural treasures. With millions of visitors flocking to its beaches and islands, authorities have decided to crack down on practices that threaten fragile ecosystems and historic landmarks.
Tourists who remove pebbles, shells, or other items from protected beaches will now face up to €1,000 in fines. These elements are a vital part of the ecosystem, helping prevent erosion and supporting local marine life. While collecting a few seashells as souvenirs might seem harmless, over time, the practice can significantly damage delicate coastal environments.
Additionally, to maintain public access and preserve the natural charm of its beaches, laws require that 70 per cent of public beach areas remain free of sunbeds and rental chairs.
Greece is also bolstering protections for archaeological sites. Recently, a tourist removed a stone from a site in Naxos, and incidents like this have led to increased security measures, including fencing and enhanced monitoring.
These fines, awareness campaigns, and stricter enforcement are aimed at balancing the economic benefits of tourism with environmental and cultural reservation. Officials emphasise that responsible visitor behaviour is crucial to ensuring that Greece’s beaches, islands, and ancient landmarks withstand the tests of both time and tourism.
Just plain stupid...
It actually is harmless. But some people do not stop at a few. Petoskey stones used to be a cool thing you would hunt with your kids and bring one home. And then the professional hunters showed up and mine the beaches for them to sell on-line.
Doing things as an individual rarely does harm. It is when it becomes commercialize that stuff gets depleted.
no more comey messages on the beach… of greece. oh, ok, he can still find those random shell formations.
Lucy collected waaaay too many rocks
James Comey hit hardest.
Very!
—National security
—Save the environment
—Protect the children
—Equality for all
Which mindless idiot theme is it?
When you invoke any of these themes, you’re allowed to do anything you want.
Save the children!
I think people that have the radio on in school zone endanger children. $1000 fine.
Also, parents that let their kids ride a bicycle without a helmet endanger children. They should be fined $1,000 and face a CPS investigation.
I can be a great politician or buerocrat.
BTW, what ever happened to:
Save the whales?
Save the baby seals?
Coming ice age?
Ozone hole?
Running out of potable water?
Etc etc etc.
Can’t people see through this junk?
Politicians and bureaucrats that advocate this sort of nonsense are self promoting by crapping on people’s rights and doing things that don’t even make sense, often hurting people.
They should be chased out of office, after they are publically humiliated.
acid rain.
Glass Beach in Mendocino County (CAL) is a prime example with 'artists' hauling off the ocean polished glass by the bucket load.
What’s next? A heavy fine for just breathing ocean air? Morons.
Too many and too big.
I wonder if you get fined if you arrange the pebbles to read 86TOYPKIA.
People act like this is unreasonable and maybe it is. Don't know. But I know that a lot of places are losing their charm and unique qualities because of people being jerks and people over harvesting.
That leads to laws like this.
“Tourists who remove pebbles ... from protected beaches will now face up to €1,000 in fines.”
these fines make total sense, because if tourists keep removing pebbles from the Greek isles at the same rate they’ve been removing them to date, the Greek isles will simply cease to exist in eleventy gazillion parsecs ...
Decades ago I collected some white sand at White Sands. As far as I know, White Sands still has plenty of white sand.
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