In May, Corfiots “celebrated” the 154th anniversary of the day the United States of the Ionian Islands ceased to exist and became part of Greece. It was the first major territorial accretion to the fledgling state and it had been controversial in both Corfu and Athens. It still is.
Opinion in the islands was sharply divided. Greeks felt that they should be part of Greece, just as Greek Cypriots would say a century later. But those who had become rich under the British 50-year protectorate (which largely turned a blind eye to corruption in local government) opposed “enosis.” Meanwhile in Athens many feared that the intellectuals and cosmopolitans in the Ionians would bring a troublesome liberalism and radicalism (the “rizospastis”) to the cozy conservatism of the Vouli.
About 15 years ago a Corfiot actually registered a political party with the aim of campaigning for secession from Greece. The argument was that, due mainly to tourism income, islands like Corfu, Rhodes, Crete and Myconos contribute far more in tax revenue to the Athens exchequer than they receive in benefits. He wasn’t wrong: The roads are in an appalling state; we have almost no hospital facilities; we have the same “aromatic” problem with garbage disposal as in Attica.
