REPORTAGEGRIEKENLAND
View of the Acropolis, but the terraces remain empty in
Greece
After ten years of economic crisis, Greece took another
hit with the corona crisis. Tourists have to save the summer season. The
country needs that more than new austerity from Brussels.
Carlijne Vos18
june 2020, 17:38
"Please let
the tourists come back as soon as possible," says Tatiana Karassavidu,
owner of a shop in esoteric stones and jewellery in central Athens. 'I was
allowed to reopen after the lockdown,
but I don't have any customers. Tourists aren't there yet and Greeks
don't have any money left in their wallets.' A second corona wave means for her
'end of exercise', she says with a resolute hand gesture.
Greece opened its
borders to foreign tourists this week to save something from the crucial summer
season, but waiter George Zamanis hasn't
seen a tourist until this early Thursday morning. The tables of his
traditional Diodos eatery overlooking a
sun-drenched Acropolis are empty. 'I don't know if the tourists will come
anymore. Maybe they're afraid to travel here and then get on the subway or on
the ferry.'
The lockdown that Greece introduced in mid-March to
prevent a corona outbreak has hit the Greeks hard. After years of harsh
austerity, as a result of the financial crisis that erupted in 2010, a little
light glowed again at the end of the tunnel. The economy picked up again, but
corona abruptly ended that upward trend: a contraction of about 10 percent is
predicted for 2020.
534 euros per
maand
According to the
Greeks, the package of measures taken by the Greek government worth 24 billion
to compensate aggrieved companies and workers is nowhere near enough. 'I was
getting 534 euros a month when the restaurant had to close,' says Waiter
Zamanis. "How am I supposed to
support my family? And how about the internet or electricity bills.'
"We only
work to pay the bills," says 35-year-old Tatiana Shumaherova. Of the
turnover in her coffee shop near Victoria Square, the epicentre of stranded
illegal migrants in Athens and by no means the best neighbourhood, only a five is left. "I have a few regulars,
but that's it." She fears the worst for the summer. 'Greeks usually flee
the heat of the city and I don't see tourists coming back so soon.'
Shumaherova is
now tapping into her savings, but whether she can hold on is the question.
"In September, I'll know if I made it." Only after the summer will
the bankruptcies come and 'the hour of truth for Greece will come', also thinks
Konstantinos Michalos, President of the Greek Employers' Association (Chamber
of Trade and Industry) and a key adviser to the Greek Government at a time of
the harsh austerity imposed by the so-called Troika – the EU, IMF and European
Central Bank lenders – to reduce the sky-high public debt (176% of GDP in
2019).
Social unrest
In his luxurious
office in central Athens, Michalos warns Europe not to put the knife to Greece
again. 'Imposing new austerity on the Greeks, after ten years of suffering from
recession, is guaranteed to lead to social unrest and political instability.
This is the last thing europe can use at its external border at a time of
unprecedented global crisis, especially in view of the escalating tensions with
Turkey.'
Under the
European Commission's current plans, Greece will receive 32.5 billion from the
750 billion recovery fund, which European heads of government will meet on
Friday. Michalos fears that conditions will be attached to this. Rightly so, he
believes, as long as they are formulated 'wisely and carefully'. 'We need to
seize this moment to structurally reform the economy. We are far too dependent
on tourism while there is potential in other sectors: industry and
agriculture.'
Diversifying and
innovating is necessary, but do not call for public sector reforms again, he
believes. 'Our economy benefits from a stable and – ideally – politically
neutral public administration. If you tinker with the public sector every five
years and raise social and tax payments and then go down again, it leads to
uncertainty and a slowdown in economic development. That's how you repel
potential investors. I've been calling that out to every new government for 15
years.'
For the Dutch
minister Hoekstra and his allies from the 'greedy four', Michalos therefore has
only one question. 'Are we going to continue the European project or are we
going to let the Union fall apart and will it be every one of them with closed
borders? We don't have the luxury of fighting this fight right now. We need
unity and solidarity. This is a global crisis that requires draconian Keynesian
investment to prevent the economy from collapsing and mass unemployment. It's
inevitable that the debts will be incurs.
Joggers
The return of
foreign tourists is vital for Greece. The economy relies on tourism spending in
hotels and hospitality for a quarter; on popular islands like Mykonos, Santorini
and Corfu it is even 80 to 90 percent. The entrepreneurs hope to achieve
30% of the turnover this summer, but that seems optimistic for the time being.
The panoramic trail around the Acropolis is extinct this Thursday morning, with
the other 100 joggers. The square in front of the museum, where thousands of visitors
normally jostle to admire the architectural treasures, is completely deserted.
In the tourist
districts of Plaka and Monastiraki around the Acropolis, shopkeepers
and waiters look out bored from their empty shops. An old man hangs with a
stick of dusty clothes against his façade full of famous souvenirs. Against my
better knowledge; tourists he hasn't seen in months. Many shutters are still
closed. 'It's going to take at least two years to get on top of this', sighs
Nikos Sefeziadis who owns three shoe
shops at monastiraki's famous flea market. "Look how quiet it is. Even
Greeks don't come to the centre because they don't dare to go on the subway.'
As far as
Sefeziadis is concerned, the summer season is lost. 'The government has done
its best to compensate us during the lockdown.
We got a 40 percent rent cut and my staff got a benefit, but that didn't
pay all the other bills. I've ordered supplies for this season, but now I don't
have the money to pay my suppliers and i don't have any customers to sell the
stuff.' As far as he is concerned, the funds from Brussels cannot come a day
early. 'Covid-19 is not my fault, why do I have to use my savings now?'
Yet, like most
Greek aggrieved entrepreneurs,
Sefeziadis believes that the government has done well to introduce a
lockdown immediately. 'Otherwise we
would have had an outbreak here like in Italy or the US.' A saleswoman in a
jewelry store is also right behind her government. 'We have shown that it is
safe here in Greece; we've been able to prevent an epidemic.' She's even had
three or four foreign clients, she says confidently.
The biggest fear
among Greek entrepreneurs is a second wave. On the party island of Mykonos and in entertainment districts in Athens,
clubs were already closed earlier this month because it was too busy.
'Hopefully tourists will take responsibility for themselves,' says
28-year-old Stelios Tsiknias. He doesn't have to worry about his
business. The bikes are not towed as people avoid public transport and even the
first cycle paths are being built in Athens. 'Hopefully this epidemic will
bring some good and lead to sustainable behavioural changes.'
CONSPIRACY
THEORIES
A recent poll by
the Greek research firm Pulse found that
76% of the population supported the government's strict measures and believed
that there was a 'serious health risk'. Yet there are also conspiracy theories,
especially among the poorly educated. The virus was allegedly used to
'intimidate' citizens, steal personal data, enforce vaccinations and secretly
implement controversial measures such as the implementation of G5 networks.
Taxi driver
George Freris, mouthcap for a ferocious grey beard, calls the way the Greek
government has acted 'a big joke'. 'First, destroy our lives with a
months-long lockdown; take everything
away from us and then the borders are wide open again?' As far as he is
concerned, it is a plot to put Greece in the hand of Germany. "Raise a
stone here and you'll find Germans with their own interests."
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