After years of delays, reviews, and dormant paperwork, the state is finally moving forward with the demolition of illegal structures along Crete’s coastline. In early January, the Decentralized Administration of Crete signed a works contract that clears the way for the execution of final demolition orders affecting beaches, the foreshore, forest land, and reforestation zones across the island.
Κρήτη: “Ποδαρικό” στο νέο έτος με κατεδαφίσεις αυθαίρετων κατασκευών σε αιγιαλούς και παραλίες
The contract was awarded to construction company TALOS ATE, following the completion of the tender process and the verification of active, final demolition protocols issued by the competent Property and Forestry Services. These are not disputed cases or pending appeals. The structures slated for removal are covered by definitive administrative decisions.
A Long-Delayed Enforcement Project
The project concerns exclusively the execution of demolition orders in environmentally sensitive areas—primarily the foreshore and beach zone, but also forests and designated reforestation land. It is part of the broader enforcement of environmental and urban planning legislation, much of which has remained unenforced for years despite repeated violations.
The total study budget amounts to €300,000, including VAT and revisions. At the same time, the contractual value of the works stands at €234,137.20, VAT included, following a discount offered during the tender. Funding is provided by Greece’s Green Fund.
Public Space, Reclaimed—At Least on Paper
According to the Decentralized Administration of Crete, the aim is straightforward:
To protect the natural environment, restore the public and communal character of sensitive areas, and reassert legality in locations of high environmental and tourist value.
The interventions will be carried out in grouped, large-scale operations and are scheduled to run through June. The intention is to complete the bulk of demolitions before the peak summer tourist season, limiting disruption in areas of high visitor traffic. After June, enforcement is expected to continue with more isolated demolitions in locations where tourism activity is not directly affected.
Focus on High-Traffic Tourist Areas
Five initial areas have already been identified across all four prefectures of Crete, with priority given to zones of intense tourist activity and high footfall. These locations will be announced gradually, as contractor teams are expected to remain in each area for several weeks.
The structures targeted for removal are largely temporary but expansive constructions—wooden decks, pergolas, canopies, hardened surfaces, and walkways that occupy public space without legal authorization. Most are associated with food and beverage establishments, while fewer are associated with hotel units.
More Than Fifty Demolition Orders
Officials estimate that over 50 demolition protocols will be executed under the current contract. In the first intervention area alone, more than 15 illegal structures are included. The selection of sites follows a ranked priority list, and where deemed practical, demolition orders will be implemented collectively to reduce time and costs.
As stated by the Secretary of the Decentralized Administration of Crete, Maria Kozyraki, the administration now maintains near-continuous contractor coverage for demolition works—an exception, rather than the rule, in previous years. Earlier contracts led to the execution of more than 100 demolition orders across Crete, with expectations that a similar number will follow over the next two years, supported by available Green Fund resources.
The Foreshore Is Not a Private Extension
The administration’s position is unambiguous: the foreshore, beaches, and forests are common goods, legally protected and intended for free public access. Their gradual transformation into semi-private extensions of commercial activity—often under the guise of “temporary” structures—has long exceeded legal tolerance.
This round of demolitions does not introduce a new policy. It simply applies existing decisions.
Whether enforcement will remain consistent beyond this cycle, or once again recede after the summer season, is a question the coastline has learned to ask every year.
The Total Cost of the Project
Commenting on the overall budget, the Secretary of the Decentralized Administration of Crete acknowledged that the amount may appear modest when compared to large-scale construction or roadworks projects. However, she pointed out that demolition work follows a very different logic.
“For demolitions, where you are essentially dismantling structures, removing materials, and transporting them to approved disposal sites, this is in fact a substantial amount,” she explained.
She also noted that under the previous major contract, demolition protocols totaling approximately €500,000 were implemented across the island.
“These are significant projects in the field of demolitions because we are not talking about construction. This is not a matter of building something, purchasing materials, and assembling structures. It is about removing, clearing, and restoring the landscape. For that reason, we consider €300,000 to be a solid budget, and we estimate that demolitions will be carried out continuously throughout the two-year duration of the contract,” she said.
How the Demolition Protocols Will Be Implemented
When asked how many demolition protocols could realistically be implemented across Crete, the Secretary explained that five areas have already been identified based on the existing priority list.
“For reasons of efficiency—time, resources, and effort, including for the contractors who must set up crews and transport materials to appropriate sites—we choose to implement demolition protocols in groups,” she said.
In practice, this means that once crews move into a specific area, all existing demolition protocols in that area are executed together, regardless of when they were issued or their original ranking on the list. This approach is permitted under the institutional framework and allows for large-scale, coordinated interventions.
“We are therefore talking about grouped, mass demolitions in specific locations. Five areas across all four prefectures of Crete have already been identified, and we will begin in southwestern Crete,” she added.
This phase focuses on decisions issued by the Forestry Service for the removal of illegal structures in areas with very high visitor numbers and intense tourist activity. The exact locations cannot yet be publicly announced. They will be disclosed gradually, as contractor teams are expected to remain on site for weeks at a time.
The areas involved span Chania, Lasithi, Heraklion, and Rethymno, and concern primarily the foreshore and beach zone—highly visited locations where tourism-related businesses, under certain conditions, expand illegally and without authorization onto public coastal land.
The structures involved are usually lightweight but extensive in scale: hardened surfaces, wooden decks built directly on the foreshore, wooden walkways, pergolas, canopies, steps, and similar installations. These are found primarily in food and beverage establishments and less frequently in hotel properties.
“We are starting with Forestry Service decisions concerning illegal structures on reforestation land located on the foreshore and beach—not in remote mountainous areas,” the Secretary clarified. “These are areas comparable to those where demolitions were carried out on Chrissi Island.”
The Aim: Finish Before the Summer Season
Under the agreement with the contractor, work is scheduled to begin in January. The objective is to start early, before the summer season intervenes.
“In every area where there are illegal operators, there are also businesses operating fully within the law,” she noted. “When a demolition takes place, everyone is affected—excavators, trucks, and disruption. That inevitably impacts lawful professionals as well.”
For this reason, the administration intends to avoid June, July, and August in areas with high tourist activity. After June, the contractor will shift toward more isolated—but not remote—cases, allowing individual violations to be addressed without disrupting major tourist destinations or lawful business activity.
Grouped demolitions are expected to continue until June. After that, the focus will shift to individual protocols higher on the list but less disruptive to location and visitor flow.
In certain areas, the number of demolition protocols is expected to exceed 50, while in the first intervention zone alone, more than 15 protocols—mainly involving temporary structures—will be executed.
“The goal is to proceed without interruption and complete what we have planned by June, before moving on to individual cases,” she concluded.
