Reactions in Parikia, Paros, for the "monstrous" hotel with 46 swimming pools

The new 5-star hotel on a plot of land next to Marcellos beach in Parikia, which is almost ready (it was supposed to be operational from this summer season) with 46 individual swimming pools and two shared ones of about 700 sq m. one and 57 sq m. the other - even if it promises very high-income tourism, it is frightening with its volume and has become a reason for an uprising among the people of Paros.

The Parikia Traditional Settlement Association, on the occasion of this specific investment but also in general the ever-increasing volume of tourist traffic and investment interest, “speaks of a disaster that is approaching our island, especially in the last 5 years”, having even proceeded in July to a demonstration on the occasion of this investment.

The issue was also highlighted in these days of fire on the island by the writer Christos Georgousis, in a letter to the prime minister that was also communicated to the mayors of the Cyclades “so that from now on they do everything possible to save the islands of the Cyclades from the invasion of wealth, luxury and general lawlessness and contempt for any legislation. The entire place was destroyed on an island of a few square meters and the attraction that this natural environment, which is particularly in harmony with the Cyclades, had was lost forever”.

It is worth noting that last year a record tourist traffic was recorded on the island, with almost 970 thousand arrivals for the first time by air and sea: Regarding the passenger traffic of the port, in 2025 a total of 789 thousand passengers disembarked from 726 thousand in 2024, an increase of 8.6%, while a smaller increase was also recorded at the state airport of Paros, with almost 181 thousand arrivals from 177 thousand the immediately previous year.

At the same time, from the pre-pandemic period until today, the number of 5-star units on the island has more than doubled, confirming, on the one hand, the upgrading of the tourist product, but on the other hand, the concern about the issue of construction.

Based on data from the Greek Chamber of Hotels, the island at the end of 2025 had a total of 141 hotel units with 3,820 rooms, of which 5-star and 4-star units were 15 and 22 with 730 and 907 rooms respectively. In 2019, before the pandemic, the total number of hotel units on the island was 137 with only 6 5-star units and 360 rooms, while 4-star hotels were 19 with 850 rooms.

The investment in Marcellos
Now, on the occasion of the new investment in Marcellos, for their part, the residents are talking about a "pharaonic investment" and even if the area can welcome 4 and 5 star units, they are also proposing the issue of swimming pools in the investment at a time when the issue of water resources, water scarcity on the islands and the aquifer - not only on Paros but also in the Cyclades as a whole - is "burning". GL Resort S.A., with Mr. George Nikitidis as chairman and CEO, has been promoting the investment since the coronavirus period, having since then received the first permits from the building department of the municipality of Naxos and Small Cyclades, while in 2021 the General Directorate of Private Investments of the Ministry of Development and Investments approved "the inclusion of an investment plan in the General Entrepreneurship support regime for the creation of a 5-star hotel with 50 rooms/80 beds in the Voutima - Krios location outside the approved plan of the Municipality of Parikia of Paros, with a total eligible cost of 7.5 million euros and a total supported cost of 7.35 million euros".

At the end of 2024, the decision to include the investment plan in the General Entrepreneurship support scheme was revoked at the request of the entity (Government Gazette, November 11, 2024), while the project was included in the projects of the Recovery Fund with an investment budget of 6.88 million euros.

In November 2025, a group of private individuals appealed against the building permit of the hotel in Marcellos before the Administrative Courts of Piraeus, with a request to cancel the planning permit and suspend it. The operative part of the decision is dismissive of the suspension of the permit and the suspension of the operation of the swimming pools, and the discussion on the request to cancel the planning permit has been set for October 2027 again, with the residents also insisting on the issue of the swimming pools. Indicatively for the swimming pools in the appeal, it is argued that the law in this case requires the existence of equal capacity rainwater collection tanks as the exclusive means of drainage, however, according to what is currently known, the pools are filled from boreholes, since such tanks do not exist.