Lesvos mayor lashes out at refugee housing plan

Plans to lease hotels to accommodate several hundred asylum seekers from among more than 11,000 migrants sleeping rough on the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos are running into opposition, not least of which is from the mayor of Western Lesvos. In recent comments, Taxiarchis Verros indicated that while the municipality has no authority to influence hoteliers approached with offers for leases in tourist areas like Molyvos and Petra, it can drown them in red tape.

The zoning service, he said, plans to carry out “strict spot checks” on businesses, “which will also include hotels,” to ascertain whether their licenses are in order and they are in compliance with regulations on fire safety etc. “Any deviations or differences from their licenses… will carry heavy fines and immediate penalties. And given that these areas come under the antiquities’ ephorate, settling any oversights is extremely difficult and time-consuming,” he warned.