Talk:Spetses/Archive 1
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| Archive 1 |
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"Tourism grew in Spetses in the 19th Century as a result of the close proximity of a British Navy training ground. Officers would come to Spetses on leave and the large, neoclassical Hotel Poseidonion (still the biggest hotel on Spetses) was built to accommodate them."
Has been replaced by an excerpt of an article by Petros Haritatos, published Spetses' historian, as his information contradicts the original text, and can be cited.
"The Poseidonion Hotel was built by Sotirios Anargyros, descendant of a great 18th century Spetsiot shipping family. His branch of the family had fallen on hard times and he emigrated as a young man in 1868, when Spetses was declining as a maritime center. In 1899 he returned from the USA, now a wealthy tobacco tycoon and started to transform the island of his youth. He built an impressive mansion and met with the rich Athenian hunters who visited Spetses from August to October, to hunt the turtledoves and quail migrating between Africa and Europe. He saw the need for a comfortable hotel and built the Poseidonion in the style of its models, the Carlton in Cannes (1911) and the Negresco in Nice (1912). The hunters could now bring their wives and children to enjoy the comfort, the spa, the donkey rides, dancing to the orchestra in the evening and mixed bathing on the beaches across the channel. The Poseidonion rapidly became the favorite vacation spot for high society, royalty and the rich Athenians who came to enjoy a small slice of the grand life. "
The following comments have been deleted. The are clearly opinions, not fact-based information, and do not offer a neutral view-piont. Citations have been requested, and none provided. I will, however, try to address the cost of living issues raised by the original poster...
"The fact that most tourists to Spetses are wealthy Greeks has led to inflated prices in all of the shops on the island, meaning that Spetsens have to pay premium prices for even the most basic foodstuffs. The tourists who come here from the Greek mainland generally bring all they need with them so they are not at the mercy of the inflated prices. This is having an adverse effect on the local population and many people are feeling the pinch as they struggle to afford to buy food. Customer service on the island is abysmal with many shopkeepers acting as if they are doing customers a real favor just by serving them.
The tourist season lasts for only two months of the year, meaning that all of the businesses that cater to tourists try to make enough to live on for the rest of the year during those two months. This means that bar and restaurant prices are practically unaffordable and many Spetses locals catch a ferry over to the mainland once a week to shop or eat out where it is cheaper.[citation needed]"
"There are many empty and derelict buildings on the island of Spetses. This may be due to the fact that property prices on the island are astronomical. A derelict building on a small plot will often cost a million Euros. Many native Spetses residents are finding that they are unable to afford to live on the island and leave to seek more affordable accommodation elsewhere in Greece. The population is slowly dwindling as more and more natives are finding it hard to find year round work."