Greek tax authorities declared war on restaurateurs

Can a pair of glasses of ordinary light table wine cost more than 200 euros? Hardly, except that concepts of conscience and honest business are completely absent ...

It is no wonder that the tax service of Greece became interested in how this happens with restaurateurs of the popular resort of Mykonos. The island in the Aegean Sea is known for its catering establishments, because of them, it also turned out to be in the news reports at the beginning of the current holiday season. Tourists complain about exorbitant food prices and are looking for a dirty trick.

There are many restaurants, cafes and nightclubs in the resort of Mykonos, there is even a representative office of the Nusr-Et network of steak houses. Otherwise, you will not call him - this is the institution of the Turkish chef nicknamed "Salt Bae", which became a meme because of the original manner of sprinkling meat with salt. It serves huge portions of meat dishes, but the prices are appropriate. Until recently, it even served as a business card of the restaurant, but now it is closed. Overworked with black bookkeeping and accumulated fines alone for 33,000 euros.

The closure of “Nusr-Et” became a kind of trigger - the police and tax services suddenly realized that what is happening in this industry is clearly beyond the scope of petty tricks. If previously it was possible to convince a disgruntled tourist that a good wine at a good resort cannot be cheap, then no one could explain to Yannis Parras why he was trying to sell a bottle of 20 euros for 230 euros. Offended to the depths of the soul, a tourist from London vividly described the incident in social networks and it started.

An incident with a bill of 836 euros for 6 slices of squid in the breakfast composition received a wide resonance. No, not a giant kraken sirloin with a tentacle span of 18 m, but just 6 small pieces of seafood. In another case, the tourist was not even served a whole grilled chicken, but one fried chicken thong for 100 euros. A cup of coffee for 25 euros? In the Greek resorts there is that! Or do you like a normal breakfast at a regular price, but with the addition that a glass of spring water costs 9 euros?

Experts cynically refer to what is happening in Mykonos and other Greek resorts as a “fraud culture”. Making money, making money on vacationers is the very essence of this business, but this season the restaurateurs there have crossed all the borders. They try to justify themselves by the fact that customers see menus and price tags, and therefore they themselves are to blame for the wrong decisions. But upon detailed study, forgery emerges from everywhere - the price is in grams, not in kilograms, the size of the portions is hidden, there are hidden items, and in fact there are no free options indicated as bait.

Right now, restaurants in Mykonos have been flooded with plain-clothes agents who catch dishonest businessmen. Several dozen establishments have already been closed, and no one knows how many will reach the end of the season. Police said it was planned to hold more than 50,000 raids, the authorities are going to shake up the whole industry and restore order. This means two things: to punish those who are deceiving the tourists who are carrying money into the country, and to select the money. It's all about them, anyway.

According to statistics, almost a quarter of economic activity in Greece is conducted in the shadows. The state loses about 25 billion euros per year, which is an impressive 9% of GDP. The country is already mired in debt to international financial institutions, forced to sell airports and sea harbors, to survive in conditions of permanent crisis. And then there is the sneaky blow to the tourist sector - no, it is better to punish restaurateurs than to lose almost the last real source of income.

Source: tourweek.ru