Staff at Athens tourist sites protest against heatwave working conditions

Staff at the Acropolis, Greece’s top tourist attraction, and other ancient sites in the country will stop work for four hours a day from Thursday in protest at working conditions during a heatwave, their union said.

Access to the Unesco-listed Acropolis had already been restricted for three days by the authorities from last Friday, but the measures were lifted on Monday as the thermometer dropped ahead of a new heatwave predicted from Thursday.

“Given the problems we have faced … in recent days, measures have been unanimously decided to protect the health of the security staff … as well as visitors,” the PEYFA union said.

Temperatures have surpassed 45C (113F), according to the union. The Acropolis, which has had a major rise in visitor numbers in recent months, is normally open from 8am to 8pm every day, but the work stoppage will operate from 4pm. The authorities have in recent days taken measures to help visitors cope, with tens of thousands of bottles of water handed out and sunshades erected.

Meanwhile, Greek meteorologists are warning that the worst is still to come as the country braces for a second heat wave in as many weeks.

Temperatures are predicted to exceed 43C on Sunday, forecast to be a day hotter than any other so far this year. Weather conditions are being likened to 2021 when Greece was hit by some of the worst forest fires in living memory.