“We have appealed to the Council of State, we have asked for the intervention of the Transparency Authority, we have contacted ministries and the competent authorities. But no one is doing anything,” says the mayor of Milos, Manolis Mikellis, speaking to protothema.gr, making it clear that, on his part, in the case of the five-star hotel in Mytakas, next to Sarakiniko, the municipality exhausted all legal options to protect the natural environment and the character of the island.

“The responsibility does not lie solely with the municipality,” Mr. Mikellis says. “First and foremost, the engineer submitted what he submitted, the Planning Authority approved the building terms, and the Ministry of Tourism granted suitability and approved the environmental study. From my side, I did what I did in the Sarakiniko case, and in fact I did it at the same time as that case, but here the works reached the sea. You know, the municipality does not even have the right to issue an opinion. And yes, we want strategic investments, like this one, but even in these cases all conditions must be respected.”

protothema.gr asked the mayor of Milos why, since he had doubts about the legality of the investment, he did not go to court to request a temporary halt to the works in Mytakas until the judiciary ruled. “We did,” he replies. “We appealed to the Council of State with interim measures to revoke the hotel’s permit. However, we were told that because the Council is relocating, the opinion would be delayed. Then we asked for an inspection, and no one came.”

“We called on the Transparency Authority to examine the case, as it did in Sarakiniko, but no one has come. I instructed the former urban planning official of Milos, who is now a deputy regional governor, to file an appeal, but she did not do so. Nor did she do anything when the previous mayor signed that there was a road at the site, even though there was nothing there. We requested an inspection, we took legal action, and I personally, in writing, requested meetings with Messrs. Skilakakis, Tagaras, and Bakoyannis—but nothing happened,” he concluded.

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Recent photos and videos from Mytakas on the island of Milos confirm that the destruction of this uniquely beautiful natural beach is continuing completely unhindered. Despite the widespread public outcry and the legal actions taken by the Municipality of Milos as well as environmental organizations, the presses and concrete mixers at the construction site of the five-star White Coast hotel complex owned by Prodea are working at a frantic pace. Notably, the area where the works are taking place is just two kilometers from Sarakiniko, where there had previously been an uproar over construction works for a similar hotel, which were ultimately halted. And yet, a little further down, a new ecological monstrosity is being built as normal… In fact, on an immediately adjacent plot next to White Coast, another hotel unit with 40 rooms and 40 swimming pools is also under construction.

As is clearly shown in the images, the expansion of the tourist facility in the middle of Mytakas has progressed so far that even if the courts were ever to rule against the expansion of White Coast, nothing would be able to change anymore.

The local municipality has already filed an application with the Council of State seeking the annulment of the expansion permit for the White Coast facilities. However, the examination of the case has been delayed for at least six months, with the justification that the Council of State is in the process of relocating to new premises.

The question raised by legal circles, as well as by common sense, is why the Municipality of Milos—knowing that court decisions take time—did not submit an application for suspension in order to halt the works until the case is heard and justice issues a ruling.

Meanwhile, given the extremely intensive pace of construction, it is evident that the owners of the complex are trying to take full advantage of the delays in the justice system in order to create fait accompli. Something which, as it appears, they have already achieved to a very large extent.

According to the original plan, the luxury White Coast is set to become much larger, as capacity will skyrocket from the existing 30 suites to 271, with a total surface area of 29,421.73 square meters.

Consequently, the term “expansion” is a euphemism, since in essence it concerns the construction of an entirely new, provocatively large-scale complex.