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 cooperating this illegal project. For Crossing Continents, Maria Margaronis finds out how the hotel operates and get to know the people inside.
Producer: Chloe Hadjimatheou.
Photo Credit: Maria Margaronis / BBC
View all episodes
By BBC World Service
4.3
16071,607 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 cooperating this illegal project. For Crossing Continents, Maria Margaronis finds out how the hotel operates and get to know the people inside.
Producer: Chloe Hadjimatheou.
Photo Credit: Maria Margaronis / BBC
More shows like The Documentary Podcast
View all
Global News Podcast
7,913 Listeners
From Our Own Correspondent
376 Listeners
Newshour
1,067 Listeners
In Our Time
5,576 Listeners
Witness History
977 Listeners
The History Hour
586 Listeners
6 Minute English
1,729 Listeners
Learning English Conversations
1,018 Listeners
The Interview
357 Listeners
Lives Less Ordinary
580 Listeners
Discovery
965 Listeners
BBC Inside Science
410 Listeners
Science Weekly
429 Listeners
The Inquiry
746 Listeners
The Audio Long Read
841 Listeners
Unexpected Elements
363 Listeners
Today in Focus
1,015 Listeners
You're Dead to Me
3,245 Listeners
The Missing Cryptoqueen
1,024 Listeners
Americast
779 Listeners
The Bomb
1,010 Listeners
The Global Story
394 Listeners