Greece: As capital grows, space runs out at cemeteries

Undertakers in Athens are sounding the alarm over a serious dearth of space in the capital’s 34 cemeteries, with some, like that at Nikaia, dealing with backlogs of 20-25 burials a day.

“Most of Athens’ cemeteries were designed for districts of 10,000 to 20,000 residents. These have grown over the years to dozens if not hundreds of thousands of residents,” says the head of the SIGTA funeral homes union, Constantinos Deligiannis.

Due to staff cuts during the economic crisis, cemetery service hours are also too short to respond to demand. “Death doesn’t stick to a schedule,” he says.

Legal and legislative delays are another problem, as exemplified by the Schisto Cemetery, which is caught up in a legal battle over debts and revenue rights that has frozen important projects, including the construction of a section for Muslim burials approved by the Church of Greece.

Source: ekathimerini.com