Himarë, Vasil Bollano, has been the target of a bomb attack twice, in 2004 and again in May 2010. In 2009 the ethnic Greek mayor of Himarë ordered the removal of several road signs because they were not written in Greek, but only in Albanian and English. A local court convicted him for the destruction of government property but his conviction was overturned. On 12 August 2010, ethnic tensions soared after the ethnic Greek shopkeeper Aristotelis Goumas was killed when his motorcycle was hit by a car driven by three Albanian youths with whom Goumas allegedly had an altercation when they demanded that he must not speak Greek to them in his store. Outraged locals blocked the main highway between Vlore and Saranda and demanded reform and increased local Himariote representation in the local police force. The incident was condemned by both the Greek and Albanian governments, and three suspects were charged for the incident. The census of 2011 included ethnicity for the first time, a long-standing demand of the Greek minority in Albania and of international organizations. However, Greek minority representatives found unacceptable article 20 of the Census law, according to which there is a $1,000 fine for declaring an ethnicity other than what was written down on someone's birth certificate. As a result, the census was boycotted by parts of the Greek community. In 2005, after years of unanswered demands, Prime Minister Berisha authorized the opening of a Greek-language school in Himarë partially funded by the Greek government. On 26 August 2015, Albanian government demolished the church of St. Athanasios at Dhërmi. The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned this action. In October 2017 the Albanian authorities proceeded with the demolition of properties belonging to Greek minority members. Due to this development the local inhabitants publicly protested while a large number of Albanian policemen were dispatched to Himarë. In March 2019 the Albanian authorities withdrew a former decision for the seizure of properties belonging to members of the local Greek minority. According to diplomatic sources, this decision came as a result of stern warning by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. Moreover, Omonoia appealed to Greece to defend the legal rights of the local Greek population and to avoid seizure of their properties. Attractions The area has a great potential for tourism, with the major characteristics of the municipal town being its seaside promenade, the tavernas and the traditionally