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TOURISM

45,000 Danish summer house owners could get cheaper electricity bills

Around 45,000 owners of summer houses in Denmark could see their electricity bills reduced by a proposal to reduce taxes in this year’s budget.

45,000 Danish summer house owners could get cheaper electricity bills
Photo: Henning Bagger/Ritzau Scanpix

The proposal could see average savings of 5,000 kroner annually for summer house owners, depending on the size and electricity consumption of individual properties.

Denmark is set to present its proposed 2019 budget in full on Thursday.

“The proposal partly promotes conversion to green energy, because it will result in more green electricity being used. It will also make it more attractive to own a summer house,” tax minister Karsten Lauritzen told TV2.

“We are currently not competitive on the summer house market during the winter months in terms of what you can earn in rent compared to the price of electricity,” Lauritzen said.

The government’s proposal provides funding of 200 million kroner to give equality between summer houses and year-round homes in terms of electric-powered heating.

The Danish Chamber of Commerce said it welcomed the proposal.

“The Danish Chamber of Commerce has long pointed out the potential for growth in the market for rental of holiday homes, in particular outside of peak season,” the organisation’s CEO Brian Mikkelsen, a former minister for business affairs, said in a press statement.

Tourists would be less likely to be put off by hefty electricity charges as a result of the proposed change, Mikkelsen said.

“That’s why we are very pleased that electrically-heated holiday homes, like year-round homes, will now be encompassed by the lower electricity taxes,” he said.

“Denmark’s tourism sector will benefit greatly from this equality between permanent and holiday homes,” he added, noting also that the move could contribute to a “longer tourism season, where there are guests and life along the coasts outside of the summer months”.

READ ALSO: Summer heat sets tourism records: DI

TOURISM

Denmark’s ‘freetown’ Christiania hangs onto soul, 50 years on

A refuge for anarchists, hippies and artists, Denmark's 'freetown' Christiania turns 50 on Sunday, and though it hasn't completely avoided the encroachment of modernity and capitalism, its free-wheeling soul remains intact.

Denmark's 'freetown' Christiania hangs onto soul, 50 years on
Christiania, one of Copenhagen's major tourist attractions, celebrates its 50th anniversary on Sunday. JENS NOERGAARD LARSEN / SCANPIX / AFP

Nestled in the heart of Copenhagen, Christiania is seen by some as a progressive social experiment, while others simply see it as a den of drugs.

On September 26th, 1971, a band of guitar-laden hippies transformed an abandoned army barracks in central Copenhagen into their home. They raised their “freedom flag” and named their new home “Christiania, Freetown” after the part of the city where it is located.

They wanted to establish an alternative society, guided by the principles of peace and love, where decisions were made collectively and laws were not enforced.

Soft drugs were freely available, and repurposing, salvaging and sharing was favoured over buying new.

It was a community “that belonged to everybody and to no one”, said Ole Lykke, who moved into the 34-hectare (84-acre) enclave in the 1970s.

These principles remain well-rooted today, but the area has changed in many ways: tourists weave through its cobblestone roads, and the once-reviled market economy is in full swing.

Perhaps most importantly, it is no longer a squat. Residents became legal landowners when they bought some of the land from the Danish state in 2012.

Now it is home to some 900 people, many artists and activists, along with restaurants, cafes and shops, popular among the half a million tourists that visit annually.

“The site is more ‘normal’,” says a smiling Lykke, a slender 75-year-old with ruffled silver hair, who passionately promotes Christiania, its independence and thriving cultural scene.

Legislation has been enforced since 2013 — though a tongue-in-cheek sign above the exit points out that those leaving the area will be entering the European Union.

‘Embrace change’
It is Christiania’s ability to adapt with the times that has allowed it to survive, says Helen Jarvis, a University of Newcastle professor of social geography engagement.

“Christiania is unique,” says Jarvis, who lived in Christiania in 2010.

“(It) endures because it continues to evolve and embrace change”.

Some of those changes would have been unthinkable at the start.

Residents secured a bank loan for several million euros to be able to buy the land, and now Christiania is run independently through a foundation.

They also now pay wages to the around 40 people employed by Christiania, including trash collectors and daycare workers.

“Money is now very important,” admits Lykke, who is an archivist and is currently exhibiting 100 posters chronicling Christiania’s history at a Copenhagen museum.

But it hasn’t forgotten its roots.

“Socially and culturally, Christiania hasn’t changed very much,” he says, noting that the community’s needs still come first.

‘Judged a little’
Christiania has remained a cultural hub — before the pandemic almost two dozen concerts were held every week and its theatres were packed.

But it is still beset by its reputations as a drugs hub.

Though parts of Christiania are tranquil, lush and green with few buildings, others are bustling, with a post office, mini-market, healthcare centre, and Pusher Street, the notorious drug market.

Lykke says it’s a side of Christiania most could do without.

“Most of us would like to get rid of it. But as long as (marijuana use) is prohibited, as long as Denmark doesn’t want to decriminalise or legalise, we will have this problem,” says Lykke.

While still officially illegal, soft drugs like marijuana and hash are tolerated — though not in excess.

Since early 2020, Copenhagen police have seized more than one tonne of cannabis and more than a million euros.

“Sometimes I don’t tell people that I live here because you get judged a little bit. Like, ‘Oh, you must be into marijuana and you must be a smoker’,” says Anemone, a 34-year-old photographer.

For others, Christiania’s relaxed nature is part of the appeal.

“It’s different from what I know, I really want to see it,” laughs Mirka, a Czech teacher who’s come to have a look around.

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