Crete tourist guide

Parking problem on Elafonissi

2026-06-11 20:15:12

Unfair practices were used by one of the parking lots located at the top of the Google Maps screenshot
[screenshot source https://www.google.pl/maps/ ]

Exactly a year ago, we reported on the fraudulent practices of some parking lot owners on the famous Elafonissi beach. It might seem that after police intervention, the problem had been resolved for good. Unfortunately, it now appears that the problem has resurfaced.

A trap in the middle of the road

As a reminder, ever since the municipality closed the illegal parking lot located directly on the beach out of concern for the protected ecological zone, tourists have been forced to park their cars in the parking lots along the access road. Private entrepreneurs quickly filled the void.

It quickly became clear, however, that the principles of the Cretan free market can be peculiar. Employees at the parking lots furthest from the beach (often a kilometer or more) developed aggressive methods to attract customers.

Dressed in reflective vests, suggesting they were official law enforcement officers, they forced drivers to stop their vehicles, informing them of a supposedly closed road. At the same time, they ordered them to park in a parking lot they managed, for which they charged €5. After parking their cars, customers "caught" in this way quickly realized after a few hundred meters that the road was not closed, and that parking lots closer to the beach were available and, moreover, cheaper (€3).

Recidivism under the watchful eye of cameras and plainclothes police

Last year, after a wave of complaints from outraged tourists on social media and Google Maps, as well as the publication of videos by the Zarpanews.gr portal, local police conducted a spectacular raid, arresting both the tout and the owner of one such establishment. One might think that the prosecutor's office's intervention would cool the parking scammers' enthusiasm. Nothing could be further from the truth.

According to reports from the Greek television station ERT, on Thursday morning on the road to Elafonissi, an employee at one of the most remote parking lots stood in the middle of the road, blocking traffic, and directing oncoming cars towards his property. The fact that – as the media meticulously calculated – this man had already been arrested several times for the exact same crime adds to the mystery. This time, however, officers from the Kissamos police station decided to approach the matter unconventionally and forgo arriving in a marked police car. The officers blended into the stream of tourists, got into an ordinary, inconspicuous car, and drove up to the parking lot trap. When the tout blocked their vehicle and began playing his traditional role, the passengers pulled out handcuffs instead of wallets.

Accusations and consequences

The arrested repeat offender was taken to the Prosecutor's Office of the District Court of Chania. He will be charged with illegal solicitation of customers and intentionally obstructing road traffic. Authorities have also initiated proceedings against the owner of the company, who was not present at the scene during the operation and is currently wanted by the traffic police.

We can only hope that this time the Chania prosecutor's office will impose harsher consequences, and that the wanted parking lot owner will face the legal consequences of organizing this operation. For Crete, which is already facing fewer tourists looking to save money in times of crisis, such a practice is simply anti-advertising.

Gosia,  2026-06-11 20:15:12

źródło

Średnia: 0

Liczba ocen: 0

• 0.5
• 1.0
• 1.5
• 2.0
• 2.5
• 3.0
• 3.5
• 4.0
• 4.5
• 5.0

 

 

Oceniłeś na: