July 27 The Frying Pan and the Fire

The heat wave finally broke, but not before Athens recorded its highest temperature yet: 46 degrees Celsius. This morning with a fresh cool breeze blowing, my pleasure sitting on my balcony with my coffee is diminished only a little by the huge jackhammer pounding away at the mountainside two streets above me.

Construction in this suburb is on-going. All the land here has been purchased by investors or developers. To build a single family home in this area is nearly impossible as the cost of land has increased 15 times what it was in 1990. On my morning walks I see apartment houses in all stages of construction, including some that stand empty presumably waiting for someone to purchase the apartment and determine its final details.

Disastrous forest fires continue throughout Greece. One hundred homes were burned yesterday in Axaia and three homeowners lost their lives trying to save their homes. Some fires in forested areas are started by arsonists. In Greece, landowners are not allowed to cut trees even on their own property. The climate is very dry but there is ample supply of water, so trees and shrubs are watered regularly by homeowners and city workers alike. The trees on this street include varieties of palm, olive, evergreen and fruit trees. The newer apartment complexes have landscaping shrubbery similar to what one sees in the U.S. All of it is green and thriving. Greeks see the trees as a source of fresh air and oxygen and they take care of them.

But the pressure to find land on which to build has led to arson. If an area is burned, those who have money and want to build outside the city, seek to build there saying there should be an exception because there are no longer trees there. This has been shown by investigative reporters evidently, and the people have complained so strongly to the government that they have decreed they will raze all of the villas built in the prohibited areas. I am skeptical. The same money that allows them to get electricity in these isolated hilltops can also buy special privileges or waivers, I am sure.