With the fourth and final payment, amounting to 150,668.74 euros, which was published on the ‘Diaugia’ transparency portal on Tuesday 3 November, the account for the 2026 lifeguards was settled. The Municipality of Spata–Artemida paid a total of €559,327.04 to ACTION CLUB HELLAS IKE for contract 36862/29-5-2026, which was signed on 29 May following the award of the tender by the Municipal Committee, and which expired on 30 September.
Lifeguard cover for busy beaches is the responsibility of local authorities, and for a coastal municipality such as ours, it is one of the largest service contracts of the year.
The four instalments
- €153,148.74, payment order dated 16 July (invoice dated 10 July)
- €127,754.78, 6 August
- €127,754.78, 9 September
- €150,668.74, 3 November (invoice dated 22 October)
The total comes to: 559,327.04 euros. The final instalment, according to the payment order, was paid from the municipality’s own resources, drawn from its regular revenue. For a contract running from the end of May to the end of September – that is, approximately four months – the cost amounts to around 140,000 euros per month.
Each instalment was paid on the basis of a ‘payment order – work certification’ issued by the service provider, that is, once the Municipality had certified that the service for that month had been provided; the final acceptance certificate was also issued with the last instalment. The Municipality withholds 8% tax from each amount: on the fourth instalment, €9,720.56.
The tender: one bid, no discount
The open electronic tender (tender notice 185/23237/2 April 2026) had a budget of €451,070.19 plus 24 per cent VAT, i.e. €559,327.04, with price as the sole criterion. In the minutes of the committee, which were approved by the Municipal Committee by Decision 278/2026, ACTION CLUB HELLAS is the only company assessed. Its financial bid was €559,327.04 including VAT: exactly the budgeted amount, with no discount.
This is not an irregularity. The law allows a tender to be awarded on the basis of a single bid, provided it falls within the budget. However, it shows that, without a second bidder, the price is not determined by competition but by the council’s tender specifications. In tenders with multiple bids, such as school repairs, discounts often reach 30 per cent or more.
What we don’t yet know
The documents on Diaugia do not specify how many lifeguards and how many lifeguard towers were provided for, on which beaches and during what hours. This information can be found in the study and the tender notice, which we will look into, along with the 2025 costs for comparison. The tender for the summer of 2027 is due to be re-launched in the spring; the question is whether more companies will bid this time round.
Source: Municipality of Spata–Artemida, payment orders dated 16 July, 6 August, 9 September and 3 November 2026, and Municipal Committee Decision No. 278/2026, Diafania.
