The decision to impose charges on toilets and lockers at major archaeological sites in Athens is causing strong reactions from cultural workers and professional tour guides. The Organization for the Management and Development of Cultural Resources proceeded with a tender for leasing sanitation areas and luggage storage facilities to a private contractor, at locations such as the Acropolis, the Ancient Agora, Kerameikos, and the Olympieion.
According to the tender notice, from 2026 visitors will be required to pay €1 for the use of the toilet and €2 for the storage of personal belongings in lockers. Exemptions are provided for school visits, people with disabilities, and other special audience categories.
Schools and other special groups such as people with disabilities will be able to use the facilities free of charge.
Workers’ unions of the Ministry of Culture, archaeologists, and licensed tour guides denounce that this is the privatization of basic public services, which until today had been provided free of charge. They also point out that at several sites luggage storage is mandatory for reasons of monument protection, something which, as they state, makes the imposition of an additional fee unfair.
The reactions are also intensifying because of the already increased ticket prices in recent years. Indicatively, entrance to the Acropolis now costs €30, to the Ancient Agora €20, to the Olympieion €20, and to Kerameikos €10.
The unions are demanding the immediate cancellation of the tender, the hiring of permanent staff, and the preservation of archaeological sites as open and accessible public goods. As they stress, “culture is a social right and not a field of commercial exploitation.”
Source: Νews24/7
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