Greece will offer free holidays to all tourists who have had to leave Rhodes due to the fire

Greece will offer free one-week holidays in Rhodes to tourists who have been forced to leave the island due to the huge fire that was finally brought under control on Friday after burning dozens of houses and having to evacuate thousands of people.

This was announced this Wednesday by the Greek Prime Minister, the conservative Kyriakos Mitsotakis, during an interview with British television ITV. In it, he has assured that the situation on the island “has returned to normal”, although he has acknowledged that the fire “has caused inconvenience to all visitors”.

The fire, which razed more than 20,000 hectares of forest and forced the evacuation of some 20,000 people, was contained this Friday after 10 days of fighting the flames.

Some 6,000 tourists had to be evacuated, although more than 70,000 left the island a few hours after the fire spread to the more touristy areas of the eastern coast.

Mitsotakis wanted to make it clear in the interview that Greece is a “completely safe” tourist destination for foreigners who want to visit it and stressed that the country is “prepared” to face emergencies like the one in Rhodes.

The prime minister has also indicated that the fire has affected 15% of the island, a territory that is especially popular with the British, who will be able to enjoy the offer from the Greek government next autumn or spring.