It's almost like that: Build a house illegally. Wait. Find (shady) ways to get electricity and water to your house. On a pre-election year some sort of amnesty will be given, the definition of what a forest is redefined for your area legally, local government will certify that your land had "prior farm use" and presto, you pay a fine and you are legal. Add to that the sorry state of land registration in Greece (there is no forest registry and no forest maps for the country) and the fact that the Conservative government tried to amend the constitution to narrow down the protection that the constitution grants to forests (which the European Parliament a couple of days ago called to be withdrawn) and the "uncertain" ownership status of large areas of forested land and you get some idea... I don't think there is anything quite like it elsewhere in the EU.

The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom - William Blake