Greek Islands for Sale

Recent press reports say that more than 60 private Greek islands are up for sale and have peaked the interest of domestic and foreign investors, and international tourism groups.

A typical example is Skyropoula island, near Skyros, which until recently belonged to the Antoniadis family. Its four square kilometers are said to have been recently bought for nearly 6 million euros by one or more members of the Haji-Ioannou family. Other sources suggest the wife of painter Pablo Picasso has obtained her own little paradise buying a small island in the Ionian Sea.

Two other islands are proceeding with tourism investment plans. One is Alatas in the Pagasitikos Gulf, located close to Volos in central Greece. Press reports say the islet has been leased for the next 50 years by United Five Development of Cyprus, which is expected to invest more than 50 million euros in building a major hotel unit of 900 beds with restaurants, recreation spaces, tennis courts and swimming pools.

The other is Arkoudi island, north of Cephalonia. In the works is an investment of 100 million euros. The project includes a 140-room luxury hotel, a marina, a thalassotherapy center and an 18-hole golf course.

A tiny island on sale but with clear title deeds is Smaragdonissi, just one nautical mile off the coast of Itea, in Central Greece. It covers just 10,000 square meters. The investor set to buy it will build a stone house of up to 500 square meters on it, or, in case of tourism development, a structure of some 2,000 square meters.