A first-instance judge in the southern Greece harbor town of Nafplio has issued a ruling prohibiting an apartment owner from short-leasing the property to visitors and tourists, a decision that will be closely scrutinized given the mushrooming effect of the so-called "Airbnb phenomenon" in the eastern Mediterranean country.
Nafplio is a popular all-year-round tourism and holiday destination on the eastern coast of the Peloponnese, a municipality where short-term leasings of private apartments and homes is ubiquitous and reportedly highly profitable.
According to a report in the Athens daily "Ta Nea", the judge ruled in favor of an injunction requested by other tenants of the building where the apartment is located. Moreover, the ruling demands that the property owner abstain "in the future, from repeating its commercial exploitation as a tourism dwelling, and to restrict its use only as a residence".
A fine of 1,000 euros for every violation and even custody is cited in the lower court ruling.
The decision is expected to generate a "cottage industry" of similar lawsuits around the country against owners and managers leasing properties on the online platforms, while its certain that the ruling will be considered by higher courts, possible even the supreme court.
The turnover from this particular sector of the economy, a burgeoning component of the tourism/holiday industry, is estimated in the billions of euros annually in Greece.
