Kritikos supermarket sparks backlash in Hydra and Spetses over plans to open in historic sites

The supermarket concatenation Kritikos S.A. has announced plans to unfastened 2 caller stores — 1 successful Hydra, 1 successful Spetses — close successful the bosom of their historical harbors. The determination has caused an uproar among residents, section authorities, and preservationists, who pass that specified developments could irreversibly harm the unsocial taste and architectural quality of the 2 islands.

Historic Locations astatine Risk

In Hydra, the institution has leased 3 adjoining listed buildings, totaling astir 500 m², located straight connected the island’s waterfront. These buildings, dating backmost to earlier 1831, are portion of Greece’s protected monuments.

In Spetses, the concern is arsenic sensitive. Kritikos has purchased an 800 m² spot close adjacent to the neoclassical mansion of nationalist benefactor Sotirios Anargyros — the precise antheral who donated the celebrated Anargyreios and Korgialenios School of Spetses. Ironically, portion restoration works connected the Anargyros mansion person conscionable begun with a €2.5 cardinal fund from the Region of Attica, a supermarket is being planned close adjacent door.

Local Opposition and Alarm

Residents successful some islands person mobilized. They reason that ample supermarkets are wholly incompatible with small, historical harbors wherever donkeys, not trucks, are the main signifier of transport. In Hydra, radical fearfulness the ocular and taste disruption of pallets, deliveries, and signage dominating the harbor view. In Spetses, locals interest astir dense postulation and the nonaccomplishment of quality successful the island’s main street.

The Mayor of Spetses, Eugenia Fragkia, stated firmly:

“Entrepreneurship indispensable respect the prime and unsocial individuality of our island. We volition not let interventions that endanger to change the taste and humanities quality of Spetses.”

Legal Battles and Technicalities

Kritikos has faced difficulties obtaining installation permits — particularly successful Hydra. The municipality has truthful acold refused approval, citing practice extortion laws. In response, the institution has filed ceremonial complaints and adjacent threatened lawsuits, insisting it plans not a “supermarket” but a delicatessen-style market store.

Critics, however, are unconvinced. They fishy the institution is trying to “slice up” the task by presenting 3 tiny abstracted shops (a deli, a household goods shop, and a drinks section) that would yet beryllium merged into 1 full-scale supermarket.

Ministry of Environment’s Position

In 2022, the Ministry of Environment and Energy (YPEN) issued a wide opinion:
Installing a supermarket successful Hydra’s protected pre-1923 colony “does not align with the quality of the area, adversely affects the residential environment, and falls nether high-disturbance uses, which are prohibited.”

This authoritative stance reinforced section protests and highlighted the hazard of undermining the islands’ planetary estimation arsenic uncommon examples of mostly unspoiled historical settlements.

Residents’ Protest Letter

The Union of Merchants, Entrepreneurs, Residents, and Friends of Hydra sent a powerfully worded missive of protest. They warned that the caller stores would:

1. Devastate tiny section businesses and thrust much imperishable residents away.
2. Overburden the islands’ fragile infrastructure (no roads, nary vehicles, problematic discarded management).
3. Cause irreversible harm to the islands’ architectural and taste identity, yet harming tourism — their main root of income.

What Comes Next?

As of August 29, 2025, Kritikos has formally demanded that Hydra’s municipality contented the indispensable permit, again insisting it intends to unfastened a “franchise delicatessen” alternatively than a modular supermarket. The institution claims it has secured each the indispensable approvals from archaeological and architectural councils.

Locals stay profoundly skeptical. For them, the combat is not conscionable astir 1 store but astir the precise psyche of Hydra and Spetses — 2 islands that built their fame connected authenticity, history, and charm.