Rhodes beach bar puts illegal sunbeds in the sea, again
The municipal authority on the southeastern Aegean island of Rhodes has ordered the shutdown of a beach bar in the Santa Marina area by June 20 after inspections uncovered a multitude of zoning violations, including the fact that the business has been illegally built in an archaeological site.
Teams from the island’s land service and port authority who were tipped off by users of the government’s recently launched MyCoast app found that the owner of the Santa Marina bar had installed 19 unlicensed metal platforms with sunbeds in the water.
The same business had been fined last year for similar violations after a video of a waiter serving customers in the water went viral; authorities had ordered the demolition of the illegal structures.
Authorities said that the main irregularity is that the bar is located within the archaeological site of the city of Rhodes.
The local ephorate ruled out any possibility of licensing it, noting that “approval was never granted nor would it be possible to grant it for the installation and operation of the business, considering the archaeological legislation, since it has proceeded to illegally occupy the shared seafront and beach area.”
The owner had first been issued a permit for a food truck in 2014 and 2015, which he expanded with illegal structures. The first order for demolition was issued in 2016 and the municipality issued a decision to seal it in 2017. The bar, however, continued to operate.
