Marathi: two canteens on the shoreline to be sealed

The Port Fund of Chania Prefecture has decided to seal two canteens at Marathi on the Akrotiri peninsula of Chania, in a unanimous decision by the Port Committee at its last session. At the same time the approval granting them space for the years 2025 and 2026 is being lifted, meaning the two businesses also lose the right to use the position that had been assigned to them. According to the reports reproducing the decision, the committee’s judgement was based on an on-site inspection by the body’s Directorate of Technical Works and Environment, which found that the terms of the concession had not been observed. The businesses are not named in any of the sources. The revocation covers both years of the concession, that is, it also covers the current tourist season.

The infringements were recorded in July 2026 and concern, according to the decision, the placing of tables and chairs beyond the permitted limits. This is the most common form of infringement on the shoreline: the business occupies a larger area than the one described in its licence, restricting the free space of access for bathers. The procedure followed provides first for a finding by on-site inspection, then a recommendation to the competent collective body and finally a decision, which may go as far as revocation of the concession and sealing. The Port Fund of Chania Prefecture manages port land zones and stretches of shoreline across the whole prefecture, with responsibility both for licensing and for checking that the terms are observed.

The question of shoreline infringements has been occupying Crete intensively in recent weeks. At Elafonisi there were further arrests earlier in August for touting for customers at car parks, while at Vai an arrest was made over 68 umbrellas that had been set up without a licence, as TodayGrid recorded in the report “Vai: arrest over 68 unlicensed umbrellas on the shoreline”. The common element is that checks intensify in the middle of the tourist season, when pressure on the beaches peaks. In practice, enforcement relies on inspections by a small number of staff over a long stretch of coastline, which limits how often inspections can be carried out during the peak period.

The decision itself had not been posted on the website of the Port Fund of Chania Prefecture at the time of writing, with the most recent posting dated 13 August. The businesses affected retain the right to appeal against the decision, a procedure that has been followed in previous concession cases as well. Marathi is a small seaside settlement on Akrotiri, with two small bays and a limited stretch of shoreline, which makes every additional square metre of occupation visible. More from the area on the Chania page. The question of shoreline concessions as a whole is under review following the changes to the regulatory framework, with checks now also carried out digitally through a complaints application.