The overcrowding one of the most popular tourist islands in Europe has sparked comparisons to a ‘long toilet line’ – with large crowds gathering as early as 7am
Tourists taking pictures and selfies during sunset in the town of Oia with its limewashed houses and windmills(Image: Marcos del Mazo/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Holidaymakers have been warned a beautiful Greek island and one of the most popular sunshine resorts in Europe has descended into “one long toilet line”.
Travel content creator Mambo Italiano took to X to share footage of the scene recorded at 7am – with dozens of men, women and children tourists queuing into the streets at a photo spot. “Social media trends have turned the world’s most beautiful places into endless bathroom lines at a concert, where everyone waits for hours just to take the same photo to show to people who couldn’t care less,” she ranted in a caption.
“Nothing captures the shallow decay of our time better than this.”
The clip in question was recorded in Oia on the island of Santorini, which is located in the southern Aegean Sea – around 120 miles from the Greek mainland.
Mambo Italiano’s video followed the queue around several corners to reach its end – a lookout point over the crystal-blue sea overlooking Santorini’s famous blue-domed Greek Orthodox churches from an excellent vantage point.
“Oia is an over touristed,” one X user exclaimed in response. “One of the worst places I’ve been. Other parts of Santorini are lovely.”
A second person concurred: “I have to agree – there are much better areas on the island. Oia is good for photos and that’s about it.”
While a third explained: “People are no longer visiting places to see and enjoy. They want to visit and photograph themselves on those places, so then they can post them social media for likes and attention, with the only intent of saying, ‘oh look at me, I was here and you not’ and ‘look how special I am’ etc etc etc.
“That’s the only reason for those long queues, it is not to see and enjoy, it’s only to show off.”
And a fourth X user agreed: “Everything has turned into an influencers Instagram photo shoot. Beautiful places are ruined by main character syndrome narcissists.
“Every new eatery has a grass wall outside the entrance, loud music and serves high priced s*** on a plate.”
According to Greek Trip Planner figures from INSETE and municipal data show approximately 3.4 million visitors reach Santorini through a combination of air arrivals, cruise ship tenders, and inter-island ferries each year.
“The 3.4 million annual visitors produce a ratio of approximately 220 tourists for every resident per year – or, expressed differently, 107.8 tourists per 100 inhabitants at any given time during peak season,” they added.
“This density figure, documented in a 2018 European Commission study, placed Santorini beyond the measurable limits of standard overtourism indicators.”