A major operation to tackle unauthorised development of pavements has been carried out by the Municipality of Athens to free up public space, ensure full accessibility to pavements and pedestrian areas, but also enhance the safety of citizens. Teams of the Municipal Police Directorate carried out checks at Health Shops in the centre of Athens, in Kolonaki, on 16 July. At the same time, 85 parking violations were detected.

Mayor of Athens, Haris Dukas, said: “The situation with illegal table seating has reached an extreme. We cannot talk about a sustainable city when pedestrians are squeezed between tables and chairs that ‘choke’ squares and sidewalks. Those who think that they will continue to break the law without consequences are very much mistaken. Arbitrariness ends here.”

For his part, Deputy Mayor of Municipal Police and Public Spaces, Thomas Georgiades, said: “The Municipality of Athens, even with the small forces of the Municipal Police, does not remain inactive. We carry out daily intensive controls regarding the table seating, but also illegal parking. Both make life difficult for residents. Wherever violations are detected, we intervene immediately and apply the letter of the law.”

On 16/7/2025, during the evening hours, 19 inspections were carried out in Shops of Health Interest, in the area of Kolonaki. In 6 of them, the permitted coverage of public space was found to have been exceeded.

Regarding parking violations, in the Kolonaki area, the following were found:

– 73 parking spaces for permanent residents (P-70),
– 7 in controlled parking spaces (P-69),
– 4 on corners,
-1 for roller skates (EPHO).

The Municipal Police of the Municipality of Athens has intensified controls to free the public space from illegal benches and return it to the citizens. Specifically, since the beginning of the year, 38 sealings have been carried out due to exceeding the permit for occupying public space, 16 of which in the area of the 1st Municipal District.
The new regulations will be implemented as of June 2.

We recall that, based on the priority that the Municipality of Athens gives to accessibility, transparency,y and proper use of public space, it implemented on 2/6 a new regulation for the occupation and use of public spaces by shops and businesses. According to the new regulation:

QR codes with the necessary details of the shop are being installed. Shops and kiosks that have a permit to occupy public space are required to post a clear and well-maintained sign with a QR code on their frontage by September 30, 2025.

Penalties and fines are increased. A fine of three times the proportionate fee is imposed for arbitrary use of public space. Each new violation will be subject to the corresponding fine. If a second violation of arbitrary use of public space is found, the table seats will be removed and sealed for 1 to 10 days. In addition, a new fine was added for trespassing blind crossing, with a quadrupling of the highest amount per square meter.

Chair development is prohibited in a limited space. To ensure free passage of citizens, no public space with a width of less than 0.30 m shall be granted, which is effective from 1 January 2026, and with immediate effect, no development of chairs shall be allowed in a granted space whose width is less than 0.40 m. Inspections will continue at an intensive pace in all Municipalities.