Glyfada mayor urges parents to step up after rowdy beach party

The mayor of Glyfada appealed to parents in the seaside Athens town on Tuesday to “take personal responsibility” for their children after some 2,000 local youngsters threw a rowdy beach party on Sunday, breaching Covid-19 safety rules, trashing municipal property, and attacking police and firefighters.

“More than 60 umbrellas and the trash cans were torched, and objects were lobbed at the police and firefighters who arrived at the scene,” Giorgos Papanikolaou told Mega television on Tuesday morning.

“It’s a double disappointment… They weren’t wearing masks, or physically distancing. The second thing that has upset us was that they showed such an enormous lack of respect for our work,” he said, describing how the partygoers set fire to dozens of thatched beach umbrellas and trash cans – recently installed by the municipal authority to improve the local public beach – and then went on the offensive when the police and fire department responded. 

“The majority of the youngsters were minors and we’re appealing to their families to step up and take personal responsibility,” Papanikolaou added.

“We organized the beach at Easter and told people to come to the seaside rather than gathering at public squares… The beach is free access and we want it to stay that way,” he said.