Created to help island communities survive when they were suffering mass emigration, a lower sales tax contained the costs of living in places where everything had to be imported and made tourism more affordable. Tourist favorites such as Mykonos fear that losing the tax breaks will make it hard for them to compete with Turkey but, for Agios Efstratios, it poses a far greater threat. “If we have to pay a tax of 23%, I’m sorry to say it but we will all die on the island,” says Kakali. Food and fuel are already more expensive than on mainland Greece, there are no economies of scale and little economic flexibility on an island which, even in summer, has only three shops, two restaurants and not a single official hotel. “This is an expensive island. Everything, even milk or bread, has changed hands three or four times before it gets to us and each middleman has to take a profit,” said Provatas Costas, a 58-year-old fisherman.
Why does Provatas Costas mention milk and bread when describing Agios Efstratios?
To show how even everyday items are relatively expensive To demonstrate how long it takes for food to arrive To show how much more expensive fuel is than basic food on the island To describe food items that the island is famous for