Are the Greek islands?

News in australian this morning about Greek Islands for sale, what do you think?

• Santorini ... payback time after spending binge. Photo: iStock LONDON: There's little that shouts ''seriously rich'' as much as a little island in the sun to call your own. For Sir Richard Branson it is Neckar in the Caribbean, the billionaire Barclay brothers prefer Brecqhou in the Channel Islands, while Aristotle Onassis married Jackie Kennedy on Skorpios, his Greek hideaway. Now Greece is making it easier for the rich and famous to fulfil their dreams by preparing to sell, or offering long-term leases on, some of its 6000 sun-kissed islands in a desperate attempt to repay its mountainous debts. Advertisement: Story continues belowIt has emerged that an area on Mykonos, one of Greece's key tourist destinations, is one of the sites for sale. The island is one-third owned by the government, which is looking for a buyer to develop a luxury tourism complex. Chinese and Russian investors are looking for a little bit of the Mediterranean as holiday destinations for their increasingly affluent populations. The Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich is among those said to be interested, although he denied this. Greece embarked on the desperate act after being pushed into a €110 billion ($156 billion) bailout by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund last month, following decades of overspending and after jittery investors raised borrowing costs to unbearable levels. The sale of an island - or convincing a member of the international executive jet-set to take on a long-term lease - would help to boost its coffers. The Private Islands website also lists Nafsika, in the Ionian sea, which is on the market for €15 million. But others are up for grabs for less than €2 million - less than buyers will spend on a town house in London's upmarket Mayfair or Chelsea. Some of the country's numerous islands are tiny rocky islets which could barely fit a single sunbed. Only 227 Greek islands are populated and the decision to press ahead with potential sales has also been driven by the inability of the state to find funds to develop basic utility infrastructure, or police most of its islands. The hope is that the sale or long-term lease of some islands will attract international investment that will generate jobs and taxable income. ''I am sad - selling off your islands or areas that belong to the people of Greece should be used as the last resort,'' said Makis Perdikaris, a director of Greek Island Properties. ''But the first thing is to develop the economy and attract foreign domestic investment to create the necessary infrastructure. The point is to get money.'' Guardian News & Media

• Answer:

  Contrary to general believes, there are many private islands in Greece already. Not only owned by Greek tycoons, but also owned by regular people, who have the titles to these inlets. And let’s see what "private island" means: It’s an island that its entire surface area is owned. Weather the owner is one or more that’s another story. It still Greek territory, subject to Greek law, as any property within the Greek borders. So what is the big deal? There are over 6000 islands minus 227 inhabited that’s over 5770 islands left. Sell them all ..... if people wanted to live there they would have done it already, in the 6000 years of Greek history, since they did not there is a reason for it. If someone, for whatever reason, want to fork over 100’s of millions just to have one, go ahead!