Katerina Grapsa, a shopkeeper in the center of Athens, remembers well "that summer of 2015, the one of all dangers." where she almost lost everything, like many Greeks. On June 27, the sixty-year-old woke up and learned that the left-wing Prime Minister (Syriza), Alexis Tsipras, elected a few months earlier, in January, had announced, at 1:20 a.m., the holding of a referendum on July 5, to say no to a third austerity plan since the start of the debt crisis in 2010, which the "troika" (International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank, European Commission) wants to impose.

The next day, June 28, after the Eurogroup (which brings together the finance ministers of the eurozone) had refused the day before to extend the loan agreement to the country, and while capital flight was accelerating, the head of the Greek government announced capital controls and the temporary closure of Greek banks until the day after the vote . Greeks could now only withdraw 60 euros per day; businesses could no longer pay their employees or suppliers. Greece was at an impasse.

"In the queues at the bank machines, we laughed at this absurd situation, but deep down, we were afraid of learning of a new catastrophe, that our country would no longer be part of the eurozone," comments ^Ms. Grapsa.

Katerina Grapsa in her shop in Athens on July 17, 2025. — Katerina Grapsa in her boutique in Athens, July 17, 2025. LOUIZA VRADI FOR "LE MONDE"

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