On the Greek island of Hydra beginning of the school year for new and temporary teachers turns into a financial test even before the first lesson: housing rent reaches 880 euros per monthand hotels cost at least 75 euros per night.
The problem was officially reported Union of Primary Education Teachers of the Saronic Gulf Islandsdemanding the intervention of the Hydra municipality and the state.
According to the trade union, homeowners offer teachers apartments at prices ranging from 550 to 880 euros per month. For many new and temporary teachers, such amounts are virtually beyond their financial means.
The situation is aggravated by another circumstance: some owners directly say that they are ready to rent out housing only from Novemberwhen the main tourist part of the season ends.
Before this, teachers have to stay in hotels, where the cost of living is from 75 euros per day.
More than 500 euros in just a week
Arithmetic looks especially revealing here.
Seven nights in a hotel for 75 euros is already 525 euros. Two weeks – 1050 euros.
That is, even before a teacher finds permanent housing and starts working normally, temporary living expenses can exceed the monthly rent of an apartment in Athens.
And this happens on the island, where the state itself sends teachers to ensure the operation of a public school.
The union demands municipal intervention
The teachers’ union asks the municipality of Hydra to take immediate action.
Among the proposals are the municipality renting apartments or hotel rooms for teachers, compensation for already incurred hotel expenses, as well as increasing the accommodation allowance and extending it to new employees.
The statement emphasizes that the current situation is already creating problems not only for the teachers themselves, but also normal operation of schools.
The problem is not new
This is not the first such case for Greece.
Back in 2017, Athens News reported how teachers on the Greek islands were forced to sleep in cars, tents and even on beachesbecause finding housing at the beginning of the school year was almost impossible.
Nine years have passed, but the problem itself has not disappeared.
Moreover, in February 2026 we wrote that real salaries of Greek teachers have decreased by about 35% over 15 yearsand young teachers remain among the lowest paid specialists with higher education.
Tourism is displacing those who should serve the island itself
Hydra’s problem is part of a wider housing crisis on the tourist islands.
The growth of short-term rentals and the orientation of the housing market towards tourists are gradually reducing the supply of long-term rentals for those who come to work all year round.
And we are not just talking about teachers. Doctors, police officers, Greek Coast Guard employees, seasonal workers and other professionals face similar difficulties.
Athens News has already written about how the shortage of housing at resorts directly leads to a shortage of workers. People simply refuse to go to places where there is work and nowhere to live.
We also talked about the state’s attempts limit short-term rentals in the most overheated tourist regionsbut the consequences of Airbnb’s long-term growth have already become systemic.
The paradox of the tourism economy
Hydra is one of the country’s expensive tourist destinations in summer.
But this is precisely what creates a paradox: the more successful the tourism market, the more difficult it is to provide the island with the specialists necessary for its normal life in winter.
The state can appoint a teacher, doctor or policeman to the island, but if his salary does not allow him to rent housing there, the formally closed vacancy actually remains a problem.
Editorial comment
The story of Hydra is especially significant because it is no longer possible to attribute everything to an individual “greedy owner” or an unfortunate coincidence.
If a teacher is offered an apartment for 880 euros, and before it arrives he must pay 75 euros per day for a hotel, then the problem is already systemic.
The state sends a person to run a public school, but leaves him alone with the tourist housing market.
As a result, the teacher comes to the island not as an employee of a vital public service, but in fact as a tourist – at tourist prices.
The most unpleasant thing is that this story repeats itself for years. We wrote about teachers without housing back in 2017. Then they spent the night in cars and on beaches. Today they spend the night in hotels for 75 euros.
The price has changed. The system itself has remained virtually unchanged.
At the same time, tourism remains one of the key sectors of the Greek economy. But an economy that is pushing teachers, doctors and other workers essential to year-round life off the islands is eventually starting to destroy its own infrastructure.
Without housing for a teacher, the school really turns into a decoration: the building is there, the vacancy is formally closed, but the person who must enter the classroom simply has nowhere to live.
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