Athens may freeze new hotels

Athens is weighing a freeze on new hotel licences in its center as Mayor Haris Doukas says the city must not “become Barcelona.” (euronews.com) Doukas raised the idea at the “This is Athens – Agora” event, after Athens had already stopped issuing new short-term rental permits in the city’s first three municipal districts. He said the city now needs to decide how many more hotel beds it can absorb and where. (euronews.com) Greek reports said the areas under discussion include the Commercial Triangle, Kolonaki and the neighborhoods around the Acropolis, where tourism pressure is already heaviest. The proposal is still at the discussion stage, not a final citywide ban. (greekreporter.com) Athens is moving after Greece tightened its short-term rental rules in 2025, with a new legal framework that took effect on October 1, 2025 and added stricter licensing, inspections and safety standards. The measures were framed as a response to pressure on housing and infrastructure in places including Athens and Santorini. (transition-pathways.europa.eu) Other European cities have already gone further. Barcelona said in June 2024 that it would eliminate all 10,101 tourist-apartment licences by 2028, and Amsterdam has capped hotel growth and tightened rules on short stays. (reuters.com) Athens hotel operators are not uniformly backing a blunt freeze. Evgenios Vassilikos, who heads the Athens-Attica and Argosaronic Hotel Association, said the city needs long-term planning for tourism capacity rather than ad hoc restrictions. (greekcitytimes.com) The timing is awkward for travelers and airlines. Politico reported on April 23 that Europe is heading into summer with high airfares and pressure on jet fuel supplies linked to disruption through the Strait of Hormuz. (politico.eu) Euronews separately reported that a prolonged fuel squeeze could push fares higher and force some cancellations just as peak summer demand begins. That means Athens is debating how to limit new rooms at the same moment Europe’s broader travel market may already be getting tighter and more expensive. (euronews.com) What happens next is narrower than the headlines suggest. Athens is discussing whether to cap or pause new licences in the most saturated districts, while trying to steer future tourism investment to less crowded parts of the city. (greekreporter.com)