‘Some islanders are so desperate they camp on the beach or live in caves’

As the sun slid behind the smooth black edge of the world’s most famous caldera, the crowds congregating beside Oia’s hilltop castle erupted in loud cheers, accompanied by dazzling flashes from a thousand cameras. It was like the red carpet at Cannes, but this was an average evening in Santorini, the long-suffering Cyclades island of 15,000 souls that attracts around two million visitors each year.