Santorini’s narrow streets choked by throngs of suitcase-carrying tourists

Video footage of hordes of tourists disembarking on Santorini, squeezing down its narrow alleyways and jostling for space in crammed streets has shone a light on the chronic level of overtourism that the volcanic Greek island faces.

The footage, posted to social media by a local tour guide, depicts visitors jostling shoulder to shoulder, sometimes unable to move because of the crush of the crowds. Lines of tourists disembark from cruise ships and ferries, baking in the sunshine as they wait for vehicles to take them from the port area to their accommodation in the island’s whitewashed towns and villages.

Families struggle with pushchairs and suitcases as they swelter in the heat.

The footage vividly illustrates the immense pressure that Santorini comes under during the summer.

The island, part of an ancient volcanic caldera, has become a casualty of its own beauty, drawing crowds to admire its blue-domed churches and white-washed villas.

It is one of the most popular stops for the giant cruise ships that ply the Mediterranean.

As the sun sets over the caldera, the terraces of villas and boutique hotels are crammed with people preening in front of their phones and taking selfies to post on social media.

On some days, 17,000 tourists arrive – exceeding the island’s population of 16,000.

Last year, 3.4 million tourists visited the island, part of the Cyclades group.

As protests against overtourism break out in the Canary Islands, Barcelona, ​​Majorca and Venice, Santorini is one of the starkest examples of how residents can be overwhelmed by the sheer number of visitors.

Nikos Zorzos, the mayor of the island, says the huge number of visitors is putting pressure on infrastructure and pricing residents out of the housing market.

He wants a cap on the number of cruise ship visitors who are allowed to disembark each day, down from 17,000 to 8,000.

Even business owners who benefit from tourism are worried. “Our standards of living have gone down. It’s as simple as that,” Georgios Damigos, who runs a 14-room hotel, told Reuters.

“Santorini is a wonder of nature” that risks turning into “a monster,” he said.

In the narrow streets of the clifftop village of Oia, islanders have put up signs requesting consideration from tourists.

“Respect. It’s your holiday… but it’s our home,” the signs read.

In June, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the prime minister, floated the possibility of capping cruise ship arrivals to Greece’s most popular islands.

“I think we’ll do it next year,” he said, admitting that Santorini and Mykonos “are clearly suffering.”