Stacey Seaside

These last few days I am more and more alone on my beach.

Every day there are fewer and fewer folks at Agios Stefanos.

Some days are busier– monster cruise ships are arriving almost daily.

The wind doesn’t perturb these travellers from getting their toes wet in the Aegean or catching some wonderful warm rays.

October 20 something and the temperature was 22 Celsius (about 70 Fahrenheit), Back home–somewhere north– there is probably freezing rain covering trees whose colors are shifting from green to wild yellows and oranges.

Maria closed the taverna (aka My Office) on October 6th so gone are the sunbeds and umbrellas. We are on the edge of the 2024 Mykonos season.

Many businesses out of town have already shuttered.

Those that are hanging in there have made a greater long-term commitment than their colleagues by opening from early March and running through early November. There are a few restaurants, souvlaki stands, mini markets and hotels that operate for an 8-month season as opposed to 4, 5 or 6 months. That is a LONG summer.

My partner’s taverna served their final customers of the season last night. It was surreal to watch as the waitstaff packed up for the night– at 10 pm. A month ago, the pathway next to the establishment was heaving with people heading in and out of town. Now darkness, quiet, a few folks here and there.

Summer Mykonos is synonymous with lively beaches, vibrant nightlife, and a bustling atmosphere, while winter offers tranquillity, natural beauty un-peppered with throngs of tourists and catching up with friends and family over a coffee on the harbour, a pig festival or a family festivity.

The landscape takes on a different charm in winter, with lush greenery and occasional rainfall transforming the island from its barren, rocky scene of summer.

And tranquillity and a lack of people is just what everyone needs now.

It has been a long season of hurdles, exhaustion, triumphs as well as damage control.

The island fought hard in 2024 to erase the “No Mykonos” slogan it was labelled with in 2023.

From the very least to the greatest members of the community, everyone bent over backwards to make sure visitors to the island were having their best experience possible.
Mykonos received a lot of bad press in 2023 because of a number of unfortunate circumstances. High prices, celebrity shenanigans and mounds of uncollected garbage have been the usual suspects when it comes to stories about the island. In 2023 it focused on illegal building that put a public servant in the hospital and rumours of organized crime syndicates running rampant.

Garbage in 2024 was one thing that was definitely NOT a problem for the island. The new vice-mayor for public sanitation runs the entity with the same efficiency and effectiveness he runs his many businesses.

Green points for recyclables across the island and all pick up points were kept immaculate.

Crowds, heavy traffic, limited parking are always a part of the summer season. An island that is home to 17,000 residents in the winter months cannot efficiently host 200,000 people during peak months without the national government stepping in by financing infrastructure systems that keep life pleasant for both permanent residents and short-term visitors. The government has been courting investors for all the Greek islands but has been negligent in supporting new projects with the infrastructure it requires. Electrical, water and sewage systems as well as roadways and other public spaces that are currently at capacity cannot be burdened further with new resort complexes.

And the latest end of season battle is with the central government. There is a current proposal that cruise ship passengers visiting Mykonos and Santorini should pay a visitors fee of 20 euros per person. Allegedly this fee is to help finance new infrastructure to combat overtourism. Current fee in Mykonos is 0.37 cents. The government has not been clear how much of that 20 euros would be reinvested in the island and how much would service others.

Are the powers that be continuing the “NO Mykonos” campaign? And to what end–to punish a destination because of its popularity instead of heavily promoting other Greek island destinations? After spending thousands to come to Greece it is not plausible that someone would refuse to add another 20 euros to the bill.

The vast increase is not as problematic as the government’s highway robbery. We already pay high property taxes in Mykonos–almost double to other places in Greece. We generate a vast amount of sales tax with percentages ranging from 13 to 36 percent on goods and services. Mykonos easily brings in 10 percent of the country’s sales tax. But that apparently is not enough. The government wants to clobber our cruise ship clientele and run off with the loot to invest in other places in Greece.

Mykonian businesses will soon be assessing and taking stock of what worked, what didn’t and what changes need to be made between now and April to improve the 2025 season for the client, the staff and the entrepreneur.

These entrepreneurs will be knocking on the doors of their legislators with their personal wish list of grievances and what they hope for.

Many of these folks are also busy planning their winter journeys to foreign lands or other parts of Greece.

While they calculate concerns for the coming season, I will be swimming–at My Office. Doing my own contemplation about how we can do better–as an island community and as individuals to give long-term residents and short-term visitors the best Mykonos possible.

I am just happy to stay put, absorb the peace and quiet, the tranquillity and just keep swimming in the crystal blue waters of Mykonos.