Safety instructions: Exciting holiday destinations or risky adventures?
Holidays in Spain and Greece: risks, climate challenges and sustainable tourism concepts for 2025.

Safety instructions: Exciting holiday destinations or risky adventures?
Vacationers preparing to travel to Spain or Greece should be aware of the specific risks and safety warnings. Loud derwesten.de Although both countries are popular travel destinations, they are also associated with particular risks. Forest fires can often occur in Spain, especially in summer, which severely impacts the infrastructure. Health risks from sandstorms on the Canary Islands and heavy rains at the end of summer should also be taken into account.
In Spain, the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts have a maritime climate, while the interior often has a highland climate. In addition, the Foreign Office warns that an increased terror alert level has been in effect in Spain since 2017, particularly in tourist areas. Pickpockets pose another threat in popular tourist regions, while reports of robberies on motorways, particularly the A7, are alarming.
Risks in Greece
Greece is also affected by increasing forest fire risks. The surrounding changing winds make firefighting efforts more difficult and put the region at increased risk. Temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius can also pose health challenges for vacationers, especially for risk groups. Light clothing and sufficient hydration are therefore essential.
Travelers should also exercise caution in cities such as Barcelona, Athens and Thessaloniki as pickpocketing, break-ins and scams are common. Criminals often specifically target tourists. Social tensions, demonstrations and refugee movements can also influence your stay, especially in the ferry port regions, which are severely affected by EU migration policy.
Sustainability in tourism
Experts warn about the consequences of mass tourism and advocate not polluting nature with fossil fuels. One example shows how local residents in Mallorca have to get by on just a few liters of water per day, while luxury hotels use thousands of liters per person. This inequality between wealthy tourists and the local population is known as “holiday colonialism.”
To counteract this, new, sustainable concepts for tourism are required. The awareness of conscious travel and the preservation and revitalization of old cultural landscapes in Europe are of great importance. Suggestions such as pastoralism, planting olive trees, viticulture and sustainable forest management could bring positive changes and reduce vulnerability to fire, he said t-online.de.