Other

BBC World Service East Asia

Magazines & Reviews

News

In-depth reporting on the world of social media

In-depth reporting on the world of social media.

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

Trending: Why Greek activists are telling tourists to leave

Factual

Why Greek activists are telling tourists to leave

18/10/2019 GMT

BBC World Service - Trending, Why Greek activists are telling tourists to leave

How an anarchist enclave in Athens started a conversation about gentrification.

An Athens district known for its radical anarchist politics is trying to fight gentrification … by telling tourists to get out of town.

"Go home!"

That's what some tourists are being told when they visit the Athens district of Exarchia. 

It’s been described as an "anarchist enclave", a place where riot police regularly clash with local activists. But it’s also a rapidly gentrifying area where Instagramable coffee shops are adorned with colourful, anti-establishment graffiti.  

Its central location and cheap property prices mean that Exarchia has in recent years attracted increasing numbers of tourists. This in turn has stoked resentment among some activists, who say the pressures of tourism have driven rents up and pushed long-established residents out of their homes.

Radical left-wing groups have called for direct action to stop this trend. They hang banners telling tourists they are "targets", vandalise flats rented out via Airbnb, and post videos of their comrades shouting at visitors to leave. 

But others in the neighbourhood argue tourism is giving Greece the means to recover from a devastating economic crisis and years of financial austerity.

BBC Trending travels to the beating heart of Exarchia to meet residents, activists and tourists. What happens when Instagram hipsters clash with local activists?

Presenter: Mike Wendling
Reporter: Jessica Bateman
Producer: Marco Silva

(Photo Caption: Activists stencil a slogan reading "Flats for immigrants not for Airbnb" on a wall in central Athens / Photo Credit: Getty Images)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Trending

Why Greek activists are telling tourists to leave

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service East Asia

About BBC World Service