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Greek mountain retreat for European retirees

Yannis Boutaris, the visionary, if controversial, mayor of Thessaloniki has a dream of transforming an abandoned village into a resort for northern European seniors.

 

Yannis Boutaris, the visionary, if controversial, mayor of Thessaloniki has a dream of transforming an abandoned village into a resort for northern European seniors, reviving it like his native Nymphaio.

Mr Boutaris, who hails from Nymphaio and actively worked for the impressive revival of his home town that was on the brink of abandonment, has tabled a proposal to revive Perikopi, a village near his own that has been abandoned. His proposal involves its transformation into a senior citizens' village, where older people can enjoy the unique natural setting and excellent climate.
The idea, as presented in Ethnos newspaper, fits in with an initiative of European youth activists that plan to create “retirement villages” in southern European countries for northern European retirees, while at the same time employing young people at the hosting countries.
The ProWork initiative seeks, in a first phase, to revitalize four abandoned villages in Greece, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, creating infrastructure for the hosting of 100 seniors at each, at a time.
Mr Boutaris embraced the initiative and is hosting the first pan-European presentation of the plan, within the framework of Thessaloniki being European Youth Capital 2014. As concerns the venue, Mr Boutaris proposes Perikopi, Florina prefecture.

Perikopi lies at an altitude of 1,420 meters on the slopes of Vitsi mountain and has slowly withered over the last decades.

It in uninhabited in winter, and even in summer all save 2-3 of its beautiful stone houses remain closed
The first step of the ProWork venture to create the villages in the four countries will be presented in Thessaloniki at the Municipal Library. Through European programs small communities will be formed next to existing villages, or abandoned villages will be revitalized.

The plan foresees the creation of habitations comprising ten houses that could host around 100 European retirees at a time, creating 100 job positions for unemployed young people, directly for provision of care and hosting services, or ancillary positions like nature guides.

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