Greece puts its islands up for sale in a futile attempt to try to save economy

Greece starts putting island land up for sale to save economy

Desperate attempt to repay debts also driven by inability to find funds to develop infrastructure on islands

Greece is raising cash by selling off an area of state-owned land on Mykonos for luxury tourism. Photograph: Getty Images

There's little that shouts "seriously rich" as much as a little island in the sun to call your own. For Sir Richard Branson it is Neckar in the Caribbean, the billionaire Barclay brothers prefer Brecqhou in the Channel Islands, while Aristotle Onassis married Jackie Kennedy on Skorpios, his Greek hideway.

Now Greece is making it easier for the rich and famous to fulfill their dreams by preparing to sell, or offering long-term leases on, some of its 6,000 sunkissed islands in a desperate attempt to repay its mountainous debts.