Guardian
August 1, 2011
To understand one of the most intriguing stories of the Greek debt crisis you don't need a degree in economics or an expert grasp of Brussels diplomacy – merely a willingness to get a bit muddy.
You start with a cramped 15-minute bus ride out of central Athens to a suburb called Zografou. Uphill past the blocks of flats that make this one of the most densely populated areas in Europe until you come to a fenced-off square. Navigate the bolted gate (clue: a few feet along is a trespasser-shaped hole) and crawl inside into one of the few green patches in the entire neighbourhood.
Just ahead is an abandoned three-storey 19th-century villa, its marble floors and fireplaces and balconies and busts still in good nick. It is magnificent, but spooky – as if the producers of Grand Designs had remade the Blair Witch Project.
It's also at the heart of a controversy that raises questions about how Greece racked up its debt – and whether some loans are illegal.
The essentials appear simple enough: in the early 2000s this estate was designated a communal green, not to be built on. The owners objected but in 2006, before their appeal was settled, the then-mayor led the council into buying half the plot.
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