Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Greece's Haven Hotel
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Greece's Haven Hotel
In a rundown neighbourhood in Athens there is a hotel with 4,000 people on its waiting list for rooms. But the roof leaks and the lifts are permanently out of action. None of the guests pay a penny, but everyone's supposed to help with the cooking and cleaning.
City Plaza is a seven-storey super squat housing 400 refugees from 16 different countries and the volunteers who support them.
The hotel went bankrupt during the financial crisis. It remained locked and empty until 2015, when Europe closed its borders leaving tens of thousands of refugees trapped in Greece. Then a group of activists broke in, reconnected the electricity and water and invited hundreds of migrants from the streets to take up residence with them.
The leftist Greek government has so far turned a blind eye and now mainstream NGOs like MSF and even the UNHCR have started co-operating in this illegal project. For Crossing Continents, Maria Margaronis finds out how the hotel operates and get to know the people inside.
Producer: Chloe Hadjimatheou.
View all episodes
By BBC Radio 4
4.7
7575 ratings
In a rundown neighbourhood in Athens there is a hotel with 4,000 people on its waiting list for rooms. But the roof leaks and the lifts are permanently out of action. None of the guests pay a penny, but everyone's supposed to help with the cooking and cleaning.
City Plaza is a seven-storey super squat housing 400 refugees from 16 different countries and the volunteers who support them.
The hotel went bankrupt during the financial crisis. It remained locked and empty until 2015, when Europe closed its borders leaving tens of thousands of refugees trapped in Greece. Then a group of activists broke in, reconnected the electricity and water and invited hundreds of migrants from the streets to take up residence with them.
The leftist Greek government has so far turned a blind eye and now mainstream NGOs like MSF and even the UNHCR have started co-operating in this illegal project. For Crossing Continents, Maria Margaronis finds out how the hotel operates and get to know the people inside.
Producer: Chloe Hadjimatheou.
More shows like Crossing Continents
View all
Global News Podcast
7,720 Listeners
From Our Own Correspondent
371 Listeners
More or Less
884 Listeners
Newshour
1,067 Listeners
In Our Time
5,550 Listeners
The Documentary Podcast
1,793 Listeners
Witness History
960 Listeners
The History Hour
587 Listeners
6 Minute English
1,734 Listeners
Learning English Conversations
1,020 Listeners
Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4
2,102 Listeners
The Infinite Monkey Cage
1,925 Listeners
Great Lives
499 Listeners
Profile
109 Listeners
Last Word
48 Listeners
File on 4 Investigates
40 Listeners
BBC Inside Science
417 Listeners
The Inquiry
732 Listeners
The Life Scientific
235 Listeners
Start the Week
164 Listeners
The Briefing Room
71 Listeners
You're Dead to Me
3,166 Listeners
Americast
732 Listeners
The Bomb
1,004 Listeners