Santorini: Growing up on a Greek island paradise

DW (English)

What's it like to grow up and live in a holiday paradise surrounded by tourists? Anna Delamani, 18, tells DW all about her home island of Santorini in Greece.

Transcript

00:00Santorini is one of Greece's most famous islands,

00:05its blue-domed churches popping up all over Instagram.

00:09A dream destination.

00:11Every year, the volcanic island attracts around 3 million visitors,

00:14yet only around 20,000 people live here.

00:18One of them is Anna Delamani.

00:20She's 18, finished school in the summer of 2024,

00:23and wants to become a nurse.

00:25But what's it like to grow up surrounded by tourists?

00:31Good morning and welcome to Santorini, my island.

00:40The house is old, it belonged to my grandparents,

00:44but it's been renovated and now we live here.

00:47This is my room and my cat.

00:50In Greece, it's common to adopt street cats.

00:54I fell in love with him and brought him home.

00:58Anna has an older brother who studies in Athens.

01:02She also has to leave the island to continue her education.

01:10I'm moving to Athens soon, where I'm going to study.

01:14In Santorini, we don't have the infrastructure,

01:17there aren't any universities here,

01:19so I'll have to adapt to another lifestyle,

01:22which is very different to here on Santorini.

01:25We're a very small island, so we all know each other.

01:31She meets with her friends here as often as possible.

01:37It's clear on every street corner

01:39that life on her home island is geared towards tourists.

01:45This used to be a shopping mall, but now it's going to be a hotel.

01:49The same has happened to many other buildings.

01:52In general, not a lot of concern

01:54is given to the Santorini locals in these cases,

01:57and that's a real shame.

02:00In winter, the busy island is almost empty.

02:03For young people who live here,

02:05it means a lot of shops are closed and there's not much to do.

02:09Instead, they look forward to the beginning of the tourist season.

02:15This is the caldera.

02:17It's a top tourist destination

02:19because of the view.

02:21There's the volcano,

02:23and you can see almost the entire island from this point.

02:27We locals don't go to the cafes here

02:30because the prices are really high.

02:36We go downhill to the more normal cafes,

02:39or we sit here on the benches and drink something from a kiosk.

02:44Anna often discusses equality with her friends,

02:47In the EU, Greece ranks 24th out of 27 on the Gender Equality Index.

02:52It is a measure of equality across key aspects of life,

02:56such as work, money and education.

02:58Since 2020, Greece has seen some of the greatest improvement

03:02among the member states,

03:04but there's still some challenges.

03:08The patriarchy...

03:10Mostly the older people believe very much in the patriarchy,

03:14so it's hard to get them to change their minds now.

03:17I think in a few years, when that generation will pass,

03:21it'll be easier then for women to move ahead in society.

03:28The youth unemployment rate in Greece currently stands at 22.5%,

03:33affecting women the hardest.

03:35But Anna isn't worried.

03:37In Santorini, generally because we had a lot of tourism,

03:41crises never had a big impact.

03:43When there were hard times in Athens and in other places,

03:46we never really felt it here.

03:48A few times a week, Anna goes to train at the basketball court.

03:52It's a 20-minute drive from her home.

03:55For the youth of Santorini,

03:57the main means of transport is usually the buses.

04:00It's too dangerous to use a scooter or a bike,

04:03so I'll take the bus and see you at the basketball court.

04:08We usually come to play basketball later in the evening

04:11when it's not so hot.

04:13Then we can play without overheating.

04:23After training, Anna and her friends go to the nearby beach to relax.

04:27Like Anna, the beach is a great place to relax.

04:31It's a great place to relax,

04:33Anna and her friends go to the nearby beach to relax.

04:36Like Anna, most of her friends have to leave the island

04:39to learn a profession, which does make her sad.

04:45We love our island very much.

04:47It's our home and will continue to be so.

04:50We've grown up here and it'll never stop being our island.

04:54No matter how the prices change or how many buildings are built,

04:58we have our memories and they'll always be with us.

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