6th August: It is still very hot. Halkidiki has been put on yellow alert for forest fires. No barbecues until further notice. Surprisingly, people were also warned not to throw cigarette ends out of cars. Why? Shouldn’t that be a matter of common sense? And shouldn’t it apply at all times and seasons, not just in summer? When I was a kid in Glasgow, I was always intrigued by the sign No Spitting on every bus. Who the fuck would want to spit on a bus? Maybe it was a hangover from the 40s or 50s when people were still prone to tuberculosis. Or maybe it was just a hangover.
We’re in Halkidiki, but this evening (7th August) there was a report in a local paper about a brush fire in the village just up the road from our flat, Agia Triada. This morning the same paper reported that the fire was under control.
Moving from fire and bus etiquette to a little episode of Balkan irredentism. In Kavala port, a Bulgarian lowered the Greek flag and hoisted a Bulgarian one in its place. What followed was an episode from the Keystone Cops. He was arrested and, I believe, his passport was taken. The police don’t clamp your car here; they remove the number plates. On his release from jail, what did the Bulgarian do? He drove from Kavala to Drama, burst through the border barrier and then did the same on the Bulgarian side. Reports say he is an extremist who believes Bulgaria should have access to the sea. Why wasn’t the car impounded? It’s a no-brainer.
Historically, Bulgaria always wanted access to the sea, and during the Balkan wars and WWI Thessaloniki was the ultimate prize. I googled the Bulgarian occupation of Greece. The Italians were in control of most of the mainland. The Germans controlled comparatively little territory, but it was all of strategic importance. Finally, the Bulgarians controlled Eastern Macedonia and much of Western Thrace, an area they call(ed) Belmorie – White Sea. In Arabic, Turkish and the southern Slav languages, White Sea refers to the Mediterranean.
It was a brutal occupation. The Bulgarians executed over 40,000 Greeks, more than the number of Greeks executed by the Italians and Germans combined. They also were enthusiastic in rounding up Jews and sending them to the death camps.
Wife-beating and uxoricide have featured in the news. In Pelion a German woman was shot in her garden. Her husband was having his afternoon nap and didn’t hear the shot. Allegedly. The police suspect him, but they cannot find the murder weapon. The husband maintains that his wife was hit by a stray bullet from a hunter’s gun. He is believed to be competent in Greek but will only speak to the police via an interpreter. Not too far from Pelion, in Larisa, a 43-year-old policewoman was savagely beaten by her husband who also, during the 2-hour beating, tried to throw her over a balcony. The poor woman is still in hospital. Two hours?! News reports this morning spoke of the beating lasting 1 hour and 50 minutes.
The Towel/Lounger Movement has reached northern Greece. Yesterday, there were demonstrations outside the Cassandra and Sithonia municipalities in Nea Potidea and Nikiti respectively.
Here’s a report from Halkidiki: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y44yyspxl74
As most of the tourists in Halkidiki are from the Balkans, it is unsurprising that a publication called Balkan Insight has covered the story: https://balkaninsight.com/2023/08/07/greek-towel-movement-seeks-to-reclaim-beaches/
The Towel/Lounger Movement is slowly being replaced in the media by the name “Movement for Free Beaches”. This is a good development as the former name had a hint of mockery about it. Certainly, it lacked seriousness.