
Damianos Gavalas – Free Beaches
Interview: Maro Voulgari
Last year’s extraordinary summer
Last summer was unlike any other. Paros unveiled its dynamic activist face by uttering a vocal “No” to the illegal exploitation of its beaches and every other public space. Behind that massive non-partisan movement that received media coverage all over the world is the Citizens’ Movement. One of its representatives, Mr. Damianos Gavalas, tells us about that strange summer…
How was the Citizens’ Movement created? What triggered the reaction of so many people not to mention in the middle of the tourist season?
With several decades of history behind it, the Paros Citizens’ Movement is an informal Athenian-inspired “city-state assembly” convening on the island of Paros. It has a non-hierarchical structure and decisions are made direct-democratically. It is made up by all the civically engaged citizens of the island and intervenes in matters of public concern. So far, it has put together interventions on a number of fronts including the installation of industrial wind farms, and the deficient public healthcare services and infrastructure, among others. In the summer of 2023, it was reactivated to address the issue of reclaiming the beaches.
Why Paros? What were the local particularities that triggered the reclaim-the-beach mobilisations on the island?
Because problems on Paros are now utterly compelling, and affect every aspect of the daily life of both locals and visitors. For years, Paros has been at the forefront of an anarchic, predatory development, lacking any vision, planning or limitations whatsoever. The citizens who “met up” in the summer of 2023 share a common concern for the very future of their land: the destruction of its natural environment due to overbuilding, the reign of arbitrary authority and lawlessness, as well as the unbearable pressures on the natural resources and infrastructure of the island as a result of overtourism. The arbitrary occupation of the coastal commons (due, to a large extent, to the complete absence of state controls) had reached such massive proportions that it could only bring about, albeit belatedly, the citizens’ reaction. Certainly, a key role was played by the spontaneous call for action issued by a prominent active local citizen, Mr. Christos Georgousis. This prompted the calling of two fully-attended general assemblies in June 2023 – and the rest is history.
How come the mobilisations received such publicity in the domestic and international media?
The Greek summer is part and parcel of our national identity and psyche. Beaches are the hallmark of the summer season, the space where a modern-day person encounters and celebrates the natural environment. So one might expect that a campaign to save the beaches would arouse general interest. Besides that, the fact that the free-beach movement simply called for merely implementing existing legislation for coastal zone management certainly contributed to the widespread public embrace of their demands.
How do entrepreneurs and holidaymakers in renowned tourist destinations view public space? Do you think the problem is still reversible when everything seems to be futile and mortgaged away?
Unfortunately, the impact of greed and excess of every kind on the very tourism “product” that the island is supposed to “sell”, therefore, on tourism entrepreneurs themselves, has never been properly assessed. It’s plain obvious that we’re sawing off the branch we sit on. It seems quite paradoxical for a place with an economy exclusively dependent on tourism to tolerate practices aimed at the short-lived enrichment of the few to the detriment of the long-term prosperity of the many. The scientific community has long been warning: the current model of tourism “development” is leading our regions to environmental and social degradation and collapse. Here in Paros, in particular, I’m afraid we’re beyond running late: we’re running out of time. Unfortunately, our island is, to a large extent, already a lost case. But better late than later. Local entrepreneurs who are attracted by the prospect of long-term prosperity rather than a fast buck in a single season surely agree with the need to change the present model without further ado. After all, last summer, many tourism entrepreneurs joined the protests.
Do you feel there’s still an active, competitive and collective streak in young people today?
Of course there is, and this was proven in 2023. Despite the inevitable depoliticisation of youth over the last decades, young people – or at least a significant portion of them – are aware of the problems and do care. Hundreds of young people participated in the development as well as the staging of the interventions – some for the first time. What is at stake is their remaining steadfast in their participation so as to bring forth a new generation of active citizens ready to defend our homeland and stand up for our collective rights.
What is last summer’s key message?
The main message of the reclaim-the-beach movement is optimistic. Last summer’s mobilisations set a really positive example. And they blazed a trail forward. They proved that when citizens are awakened and willing to take methodical, organised and persistent action, they’re in for a victory – like the victory witnessed in Paros in 2023, when citizens managed to activate the authorities, freeing acres of arbitrarily occupied beaches. All’s not over yet, though. We must fight defeatism, overcome the gravitational pull of the couch, resist the banality of ugliness, and claim a better future for our country and ourselves.