
Snowpocalypse, housing Policy, humans outnumber sheep in Iceland and more
The Reykjavík Grapevine's Iceland Roundup brings you the top news with a healthy dash of local views. In this episode, Grapevine publisher Jón Trausti Sigurðarson is joined by Heimildin journalist Aðalsteinn Kjartansson, and Grapevine friend and contributor Sindri Eldon to roundup the stories making headlines in recent weeks. On the docket this week are:
Snowpocalypse, Iceland Version
Tuesday saw a record snowfall in Reykjavík, for October that is, breaking a record from 1921, with 27 centimeters of snow in one day. The snowfall resulted in massive traffic disruptions in Reykjavík, both because of the copious amounts of snow, and because not all drivers had managed to change to winter tires. We used to think Icelanders could drive in snow. That myth has now been shattered.
National Police Commissioner Spends 160 Million ISK On “Advice” From A Single Person
The National Police Commissioner, Sigríður Björk Guðjónsdóttir, has found herself in potentially job ending circumstances, after RÚV revelled she had been buying the services from a single company over the past 5 years, for 160 million ISK, which is roughly 2.7 million ISK a month. The company in question, Intra, is a single person operation whose only employee is a Þórunn Óðinsdóttir. The tasks she did ranged from buying office furniture to introducing “lean management” to the police offices, to helping move the office of the Police Commissioner between locations.
Government Announces Housing Policy Plans
As often discussed on this podcast, the Icelandic housing market is fucked. Last week the government announced their ideas to “fix” the market. These include; Building 4000 apartments in a new suburb in Reykjavík, deregulating building regulations, giving funding to non-profit, housing companies. The government also plans to tax empty building plots, decrease AirBnB availability, increased taxes on rent and sell of copious amount of state owned real estate.
Fewer Sheep Than Humans In Iceland, For First Time Ever
The Icelandic sheep population has dropped by a 100.000 in the past 10 years, meaning that there are now “only” 350.000 sheep in Iceland. This also means that there are fewer sheep than people in Iceland, which has never ever happened before in the history of Iceland.
Former Prince Andrew And Naming Royals In Icelandic
Iceland has the somewhat idiosyncratic policy of giving foreign royals Icelandic names. This means that King Charles III is Karl III in Icelandic
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This is a Reykjavík Grapevine podcast.
The Reykjavík Grapevine is a free alternative magazine in English published 18 times per year, biweekly during the spring and summer, and monthly during the autumn and winter.
The magazine covers everything Iceland-related, with a special focus culture, music, food and travel. The Reykjavík Grapevine’s goal is to serve as a trustworthy and reliable source of information for those living in Iceland, visiting Iceland or interested in Iceland. Thanks to our dedicated readership and excellent distribution network, the Reykjavík Grapevine is Iceland’s most read English-language publication.
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