Greece has unveiled a sweeping framework to regulate tourism development across its islands, placing limits on new hotel capacity and signaling future restrictions on short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb, as the government grapples with overtourism and mounting housing pressure on island communities.
The proposed Special Spatial Framework for Tourism, presented by Environment and Energy Minister Stavros Papastavrou and Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni, was opened for a brief second round of public consultation this week. The government aimsto finalize the relevant joint ministerial decision signed by the end of June.
Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni and Environment and Energy Minister Stavros Papastavrou present the Special Spatial Framework for Tourism, Monday, May 11, 2026. (DANAE DAVLOPOULOU/EUROKINISSI)
Short-term rentals in the crosshairs… eventually
The most politically charged element of the plan concerns short-term rentals. The framework proposes suspending the registration and issuance of new property registry numbers for newly built homes on the islands. These numbers, which are required under Greek law to list a property on platforms such as Airbnb, are administered by the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE), Greece’s tax authority.
The provision is designed to prevent new residential stock from flowing directly into the short-term rental market at a time when permanent residents face severe housing affordability pressures and island infrastructure is strained by overtourism.
The framework also opens the door to geographically differentiated rules, allowing for designated zones where short-term rentals would face outright bans or strict operating limits, including caps on the number of days a property may be rented out per year and conditions tied to whether it serves as a primary residence.
The hotel industry, however, is unconvinced. Hoteliers argue that while the plan gestures toward future restrictions, it contains no immediate binding measures, effectively deferring action to later stages of spatial planning or separate legislation.
A five-tier zoning system
The framework divides Greek territory into five categories based on existing tourist accommodation density. At the top of the hierarchy sit 18 “Controlled Development” zones — areas deemed saturated — including the islands of Mykonos, Santorini, Skiathos and Kos, as well as specific municipal units on Zakynthos, Rhodes, Corfu, Tinos, Crete and a coastal stretch in Pieria, northern Greece.
In these zones, new tourist accommodations on islands will be capped at 100 beds per property and must be rated at least three stars. The minimum plot size for out-of-plan construction — a common practice in Greece where building occurs outside formally designated urban zones — is set at 16 stremma (a stremma is a Greek unit of land area equal to 1,000 square meters, or roughly a quarter of an acre).
The remaining tiers cover “Developed” areas (B), where new island accommodations are capped at 350 beds and the minimum plot size rises to 12 stremma; “Developing” areas (C); “Early Development” areas (D); and “Special Development Enhancement” zones (E). In the three lower tiers, no bed cap applies to new island accommodations, and the minimum out-of-plan plot size is set at 8 stremma.
Islands grouped by size
Separately, islands are grouped into three bands by surface area. The 16 largest — including Rhodes, Corfu, Lesbos, Kefalonia, Zakynthos, Kos, Samos and Chios, among others — form Group I. For these, planning authorities will examine the designation of tourism development zones and protected heritage or landscape areas where new hotel construction would be limited or banned.
Group II covers islands between 20 and 250 square kilometers, a list that includes Mykonos, Santorini, Paros, Sifnos, Patmos, Hydra, Syros and dozens of others. New hotel accommodations here are capped at 100 beds and must be rated at least three stars.
Group III encompasses all remaining, smaller islands. On islands smaller than 1,000 stremma, only light maritime recreation is permitted — diving, swimming, windsurfing — alongside a single tourist residence or a luxury glamping site of up to 50 guests, as well as moorings for tourist vessels.
Across all coastal areas nationwide, the plan imposes a complete ban on construction or landscaping within 25 meters of the shoreline, with narrow exceptions for disabled access infrastructure and small features such as wooden footpaths or observation points.
Industry pushback
The framework has drawn formal objections from Greece’s main hotel industry bodies. Both the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) and the Hellenic Hoteliers Federation have written to the relevant ministries raising serious concerns about both the consultation process and specific provisions of the plan. A Deloitte survey of 250 hoteliers, carried out in partnership with the Hellenic Hoteliers Federation, found that 92% described themselves as moderately or not at all satisfied with the sector’s working relationship with the state.
Industry representatives have also criticized the plan for failing to incorporate a new environmental classification system for hotels being promoted by the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels, which they argue would offer a more comprehensive tool for sustainable development.
The 100-bed cap has drawn particularly sharp objections. Hoteliers contend that measuring capacity in beds rather than land area produces the opposite of its intended environmental effect: breaking development into multiple smaller units multiplies infrastructure duplication — water, sewage, energy, waste management — and increases traffic and environmental load. “Instead of reinforcing economies of scale and organized infrastructure management, a more fragmented and less sustainable development model is being created,” industry figures said.
The president of the Hellenic Hoteliers Federation, Yannis Hatzis, speaking at a separate event held by the Rhodes Hoteliers’ Union, acknowledged the need for rules and environmental balance but warned against treating all island destinations identically. Rhodes, Corfu and Kos, he argued, cannot be governed by the same criteria applied to Sifnos, Kythnos or Serifos, given their vastly different infrastructure, scale and carrying capacity.
Source: ot.gr
