Zorzos, a former school tutor, is in his second term.

His
visionary policies have won praise in Athens, where politicians
see tourism as the antidote to the punishing terms attached to
financial rescue from the eurozone and International Monetary
Fund.
But the ebullient mayor cannot mask his concerns. Santorini is
being transformed before his eyes. Environmental disaster
beckons. Construction is such that “at least” 11% of the island
has been concreted over, he says, citing a recent report by the
University of the Aegean. There are more than 1,000 beds per
square km, more than any other isle after Kos and Rhodes, and
in a destination of only 76 sq km, more than 700 restaurants,
cafes, bars and bakeries – the vast majority concentrated in
Fira, the main town.
“We have reached saturation point. The pressure is too much,”
he sighs, lamenting the lack of economic and environmental
sustainability. “Santorini has developed the problems of a city.
Our water consumption alone has gone up [by 46%]. We need
desperately to increase supplies but that requires studies,
which in turn require technicians and that we cannot afford.”
Zorzos has appealed to the authorities in Athens to put a break
on the building spree.
In an unprecedented step, he has also capped visitor numbers
this year, limiting the number of cruise ship passengers
disembarking daily to 8,000 people. Last year 636 ships docked
at the island, the country’s most popular cruise destination.
There were days when 18,000 passengers arrived, all wanting
to see the famous island of narrow lanes and blue-domed
churches.