Hatzidakis: We promised that legality would prevail on the beaches and this has been done

The Real Estate Services of the Ministry of National Economy and Finance carried out a total of 20,500 inspections in response to citizens' complaints on 630 beaches throughout the country in 60 days, from the start of the inspections process in early July until the end of August, the ministry announced on Wednesday. These have been the most extensive checks conducted over such a short period of time on Greek beaches, which were assisted by new technologies and in particular the MyCoast application, as well as the use of drones and satellite images.

Thus, during the inspections carried out by dozens of Real Estate Services teams (with the assistance of local municipalities and police), more than 2,400 businesses were inspected and 682 violations were found. In total, 400 administrative measures were taken and orders for the shutdown of 55 business were issued, while the fines imposed exceed 8.5 million euros. The checks will continue throughout September and until the end of this year's tourist season, the ministry said.

According to the announcement, National Economy and Finance Minister Kostis Hatzidakis stated: "The improved image on the beaches of our country proves that we do what we say! We promised that legality would prevail on the beaches and this has been done on the vast majority of beaches, as evidenced by the 20,000+ checks within 60 days and the actions we have taken against those who are illegal...we continue, with the same consistency and persistence, in order to protect the environment and the citizen's right to have free access to the beach, to preserve our tourist product and to support healthy entrepreneurship represented by businessmen who do their job properly."