Heraklion (Greece) (AFP)

On the paradisiacal beaches of Crete, tourists are delighted with a "return to normal life before the Covid": Greece reopened its tourist season on Friday, under a radiant sun, lifting its seven-month confinement at the same time .

"Yes! The sun is shining, it is hot, there is the sea, it is perfect", exclaims Elke, a German tourist leaving the airport of Heraklion, the main one in Crete.

Here "I hope to forget this damn Covid", launches Jil Wirries, a German student from Hanover, going to get his luggage.

"I'm so happy to be here" because "everything is so horrible in Germany. Not to mention the weather, everything is closed and people are depressed."

Even if tourism professionals do not expect significant arrivals before the end of June, beginning of July, some 120 international flights are planned at airports in Greece on Friday and Saturday, to reopen the country to tourists from Europe and some other countries.

TUI, the leading European tour operator, has scheduled 120 flights to Greece by the end of May, including 4,000 travelers this weekend.

"Greece is really in pole position, the Greek government is the most advanced in Europe to support tourism and at the same time ensure" the health protection of the premises, explains Aage Duenhaupt, communication director of TUI, in waiting for the first plane to land in Heraklion.

- "We can't believe our eyes" -

About fifty km from the old town of Chania, German tourists are already raving about the paradisiacal lagoon of Balos.

"We can't believe our eyes, it's so beautiful here", rejoices Anne-Marie Buhrer, a student from Munich.

"There is no stress here", "we cannot be happier than now".

"It's wonderful to have the opportunity to travel again. Here it is the return to normal life before the Covid", adds Caroline Falk, a 28-year-old compatriot: "the restaurants are open, we can go to the beach, you can enjoy the good weather, you can do a little shopping ... "

And "Greece is a country without quarantine", specifies his companion Benedict Geiven.

Confined since November 7, Greece lifted all traffic restrictions overnight, on land and at sea, for the return of tourists.

No more ban on leaving your department, no more exit authorizations by SMS, no more police checks and fines.

All over Greece, after restaurant terraces, museums reopened on Friday.

The only condition now for travel: to be vaccinated or to present a negative Covid test.

The government maintains that mass screening combined with vaccination will allow safe travel.

- All the islands vaccinated at the end of June -

The Greek authorities have vaccinated the islands first and foremost.

A quarter of the population received a first dose.

"All of our islands will be fully protected by the end of June. So far, a third of them have been vaccinated," announced the Minister of Tourism.

"We hope it will be a good season and that people will choose our country and our island," exclaims Alexandros Koukourakis, moving tables and chairs in front of his tavern in Kissamos near Chania.

In the small fishing village of Bali, near Rethymnos, the hotelier Konstantinos Kouratoras sees a "difficult but ultimately positive season, because people finally want to travel. We maintain the security measures, we use the mask and disinfectant and all. will be going very well this summer ".

The return of foreigners is crucial for a country which drew nearly a quarter of its income from tourism before the pandemic.

It is in an attempt to raise the bar that Greece has made the bet to reopen its borders in mid-April to vaccinated people and to launch its tourist season before its main European competitors, such as Spain and France.

The start of the season suffers from a first setback, after the decision of the United Kingdom to maintain the mandatory quarantine on return from Greece.

Because more than 2,000 cases of contamination are still recorded daily in Greece, most of them in Athens, and hospitals remain under tension.

© 2021 AFP