Thessaloniki mayor sees crematorium ready by mid-2019

Thessaloniki Mayor Yiannis Boutaris appeared confident on Wednesday that the northern port city's first crematorium will be up and running by the first half of 2019, as work continues on a unit at the First Municipal Cemetery in Thermi.

“The process has moved forward quite significantly. All that is left is the local zoning plan, which we believe will be finished and approved by the end of the summer,” he told the press during a tour of ongoing municipal initiatives.

Cremations were legalized in Greece in 2006 despite staunch opposition from the Church of Greece, yet there are still no crematoriums in operation. Facilities are also in the works in Athens and the western port of Patra.