Reclaim public space, Save Mylos beach (Lefkada, Greece)

A group of people who have come together with the aim of preserving Mylos Beach, one of the last virgin beaches on the island of Lefkada, and is currently asking for financial support to cover legal expenses.

The Open Assembly of Agios Nikitas’ Residents (Lefkada, Greece) was formed in July 2018 by local people, lovers of the village and those who seek to defend public space, in response to local businessmen’s installing sunbeds and umbrellas on Mylos Beach.

Mylos beach is one of Lefkada’s last virgin beaches, a place of unparalleled beauty, whose unique ecosystem includes sea turtles, sand dunes and rare plants such as the “lily of the sea”. Besides its uniqueness, however, Mylos is a reference point for us all, the locals. It is our experiences on and memories of that beach that make up the unique identity of the place.

In the weeks that followed, we gathered to protest three times on the beach, twice at the State’s Real Estate Department of Lefkada (under whose jurisdiction the leasing of the beach falls), as well as on various occasions around the island. Our aim was both to cancel the Mylos beach lease agreement with the businessmen, to reclaim it from the ravenousness of any businessman and to highlight the broader issue of the encroachment on and people’s dispossession of public space.

In an attempt to intimidate us, the businessmen involved and the director of the State’s Real Estate Department of Lefkada sued members of our Assembly, local village residents as well as journalists who voiced their solidarity with our fight.

With the current crowdfunding initiative, we seek to collect enough money to cover the legal expenses of all those who will find themselves before the Greek legal system due to their participation in the fight to keep Mylos free of sunbeds and umbrellas. We also aim to highlight how human momentum can gather to defend public space both practically and morally.

Open Assembly of Agios Nikitas’ Residents