Question all Greeks are asking: ‘How are we going to live?’

Like many Greek Islands, Paros is a sleepy kind of place.

The marble quarries which once teemed with activity are mostly redundant and for those who live in the quaint rows of white-washed terraced buildings, the main industry is tourism.

However, while Paros may be a boat ride from the mainland, speak to the locals and they talk of the same fear and frustration which has prompted protesters to take to the streets of Athens.

June is normally a month of preparations for the busy summer ahead, but with the country on the verge of economic collapse the annual influx of Britons, Germans and Italians this year looks like it might be only a trickle.

“Paros was still covered with spring flowers because of unusually heavy rainfall in May,” says Peggy Hewitt, who has just returned from her latest visit to the Greek island. The Yorkshire-born writer has travelled to Greece almost every years for the last four decades, but she saw a very different country on her last trip, one preoccupied with what further woes the future might hold.

“On my return trip to Piraeus, the port was full of bewildered looking people trying to get to the islands, but the boats were tied up behind locked gates going nowhere,” says Peggy. “Just watching people I sensed a feeling of despair. One young and attractive woman working in a ladies outfitters in the town asked just one simple question, ‘How are we going to live?’

“Prices have rocketed and it was noticeable even in the small things. The bus fare from the airport had almost doubled and while tourists can still get a bargain for the Greek people the situation is dire.”

While the country has lurched from one crisis to another, things are almost certainly set to get worse. The Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou is trying convince MPs to pass further austerity measures which have already caused nationwide strikes and riots in Athens.

He has just a few days to persuade parliament to approve a five-year package of tax increases and spending cuts and in the debating chamber, the sound of the protesters outside and their chants of “Thieves, Thieves” have provide uncomfortable interruption.

Failure for Papandreou is not an option. If the measures aren’t approved, Eurozone ministers have already announced they will withhold the latest tranche of the European Union and International Monetary Fund’s bail out package.

Without the loan, Greece will be forced to default on payments to creditors to which it owes e340bn. If that happens there are real fears trouble could spread to Portugal and the Irish Republic, countries which have also been on the receiving end of emergency payments.

Tourism has become the lifeblood of Greece, but a country on the brink of collapse doesn’t hold the same allure for holidaymakers.

“The people gave their usual warm welcome, but the waiters in the half-full tavernas and hotels looked worried,” adds Peggy, who spent most of her life in Haworth before moving recently to Scotland.

“One day I visited the nearby island of Naxos and met up with Stavas, the owner of a small hotel where I have stayed many times.

“He greeted me with a big bear hug, but he also told me he had many problems as just two of his rooms were occupied. He has at least 12.”

Greece’s problems can be traced back to the introduction of the euro. Having adopted the new currency, the country borrowed heavily and went on a spending spree. In the space of a decade public sector wages doubled and the country got used to living beyond its means.

However, widespread tax evasion meant the Government’s own coffers were left depleted and when the global credit crunch hit there was no money in the bank to ride out the storm.

The bailout package did buy Greece some time and while the situation looks bleak, the one thing it desperately needs is for the tourists to keep on coming.

“Greece is bankrupt only in money,” says Peggy. “It still has that indefinable life force which drags the real lover of Greece back again and again.

“Of course, you have to wonder whether they would have been better going it alone away from the European Union and hanging on to their drachma.

“However, I’m sure the visitors will still come because the challenges of getting there are nothing compared to the prize at the end of the journey.”

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