Hundreds of tourists were blocked from visiting the Acropolis on Christmas Eve after the site’s guards called a strike to demand overdue weekend pay.
Visitors had to resort to taking photos of themselves outside the monument’s shuttered gates on Saturday, peering through the bars to get a look at the 5th century BC temple.
Greece has been hit by a wave of strikes provoked by cuts imposed by its debt-laden government to meet the terms of lifeline bailout deals from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.
“We are working people. We have seen our salaries greatly reduced because of the economic crisis and we can’t keep working without getting paid,” said the president of the guards’ union, Yannis Mavrikopoulos.
The Acropolis is the leading attraction in a tourism industry which accounts for almost a fifth of the country’s failing economy.
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