Friday, August 26, 2005
BBC: Greece outraged over drunken British tourists
"The Greek tourism minister is to hold emergency talks on the holiday island of Zakynthos on Monday amid outrage at the behaviour of British tourists.
Photographs in the Greek and UK press have shown young drunken Britons having sex in
bars and other public places.
The island's MP, Dimitrios Varvarigos, has called for tourists committing acts of gross indecency to be put on trial and jailed for up to three years.
Those who have gone home should be sent back to Greece for trial, he says.
Bad reputation
The photos splashed across papers last week were taken in the resort of Laganas on
the island's south coast, which used to be better known as a nocturnal breeding ground for loggerhead turtles.
But, over the past two years, it has become a favoured destination for British teenagers in search of sun, sand and cheap alcohol.
The town has seen behaviour including drunken orgies, vomiting in the streets and frequent fights. Police have closed down several of the most notorious nightclubs.
...
The town's deputy mayor, Stavros Papadatos, blamed holiday reps and the Greek proprietors of hundreds of bars and clubs in Laganas for encouraging drunkenness.
'Every night each one of them must make around 1,000 euros (700 pounds) organising pub crawls. It's on those crawls that young British girls and boys appear to lose their minds,' he said according to a report in the Guardian."
Photographs in the Greek and UK press have shown young drunken Britons having sex in
bars and other public places.
The island's MP, Dimitrios Varvarigos, has called for tourists committing acts of gross indecency to be put on trial and jailed for up to three years.
Those who have gone home should be sent back to Greece for trial, he says.
Bad reputation
The photos splashed across papers last week were taken in the resort of Laganas on
the island's south coast, which used to be better known as a nocturnal breeding ground for loggerhead turtles.
But, over the past two years, it has become a favoured destination for British teenagers in search of sun, sand and cheap alcohol.
The town has seen behaviour including drunken orgies, vomiting in the streets and frequent fights. Police have closed down several of the most notorious nightclubs.
...
The town's deputy mayor, Stavros Papadatos, blamed holiday reps and the Greek proprietors of hundreds of bars and clubs in Laganas for encouraging drunkenness.
'Every night each one of them must make around 1,000 euros (700 pounds) organising pub crawls. It's on those crawls that young British girls and boys appear to lose their minds,' he said according to a report in the Guardian."
