'Caterpillar from hell' found in Copenhagen
The oak processionary moth caterpillar (OPM) – nicknamed in the media "the caterpillar from hell" – has been spotted in a total of 30 oak trees spread across three different locations in Copenhagen municipality, all of which are on Amager in the south of the city.
The caterpillar has in recent weeks been causing havoc in Odense municipality, which recently set aside ten million kroner to battle the issue. The toxic substances in the caterpillar's hairs can cause allergic reactions, severe itching and blistering, and in Odense caterpillar nests have led to the closure of multiple paths, a recycling centre and a preschool.
The OPM is a nocturnal insect which gets its name from the fact that it feeds on oak leaves, and the caterpillars move together in a procession-like line when searching for a new host tree. They build distinctive white-grey, web-like nests on tree trunks or branches, which can range in size from a tennis ball to a football.
Danish vocabulary: kløe og udslæt – itching and rashes
Long-distance commuters eligible for larger tax discount from July 9th
From Thursday, commuters eligible for the befordringsfradrag, a tax discount that applies to people with a commute of 12 kilometres or more each way, will be able to see a larger discount on their payslips if they log in and update their preliminary income assessments.
This is due to the fact that parliament has fast-tracked a temporary increase in the deduction due to rising petrol and diesel prices.
"We've moved as quickly as humanly possible," tax minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt told the Ritzau newswire, adding that he thought it was impressive that he had been able to do so within a month of taking office.
More than a million commuters nationwide stand to benefit from the increased deduction, with the average saving estimated to be around 2,300 kroner per year. The deduction will be automatically factored into next year's tax statement, so you don't need to do anything to benefit from it. But if you want to see how much you stand to save already, you can update your forskudsopgørelse before July 20th.
Engel-Schmidt said that the government would "revisit the discussion" on whether to keep the increased tax discount in place for 2027, if fuel prices are still high.
Danish vocabulary: fradrag – deduction
Apartment prices falling in Aarhus, Odense and Frederiksberg
Apartment prices are rising across Denmark as a whole, but in Aarhus, Odense and Frederiksberg they fell between May and June, according to new figures from Boligsiden.
Sales prices fell 1.5 percent in Odense, 1.2 percent in Aarhus and 0.1 percent in Frederiksberg during that time.
According to Kasper Fredløv Sonberg, team leader for data and data quality at Boligsiden, it's important to note that the market for apartments in Aarhus and Frederiksberg in particular has been extremely hot over the past year.
"At the same time, the preliminary trade figures show that the level of activity could be on its way down from the extraordinarily high level we've seen," he said.
He added that it's still too early to say whether this is the start of a new trend or just a temporary fluctuation.
In Copenhagen municipality, apartments saw a 0.8 percent rise in price between May and June, while Aalborg saw the largest rise of 2.3 percent.
In addition to this, Boligsiden reports that the average national sales price for detached and terraced houses has passed 20,000 kroner per square metre for the first time.
Danish vocabulary: lejlighedspriser – apartment prices
Suspected mine on beach was actually a barbecue
A beach at Løkken in northern Jutland was closed off on Wednesday after a German tourist alerted the authorities to a suspicious object.
Police received images of the object on Wednesday evening which were sent to the national bomb removal service, EDO, who decided to close the beach for investigation.
"Turns out it wasn't a mine," on-duty officer at north Jutland police, Morten Axelsen, told Ritzau on Thursday morning.
"EDO have been and looked at the object which was sticking out of the sand. Turns out it was the base of an old Weber barbecue."
He added that it wasn't immediately obvious what the object was.
"To be fair, I should say that the bottom of a barbecue like that does look a lot like an old sea mine from the Second World War. But it wasn't dangerous."
The beach was cordoned off on Wednesday afternoon with visitors told to stay at least 200 metres away from the cordon. On Thursday, they were removed.
"We're finished there, the cordons have gone," Axelsen said. "So you can do whatever you want on the beach now."
Danish vocabulary: sømine – sea mine
With reporting from Ritzau
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