Ιs Crete really a winter lure for Germans?

“The Greek Minister of Tourism has a big heart for Germans. The controversy over the Greek debt crisis, over the European rescue packages and austerity measures is over, forgotten. Also gone, forgotten is the arrogance of the Germans (…) Now their country is threatened with an energy crisis, with a heating crisis. Refugees looking for warmth will be able to head to the South (…)” notes Berlin’s TAZ, referring to a relevant article by Bild and the exhortations of Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilia and Chania Mayor Vassilis Simandirakis to German pensioners.

The dream of the South, observes TAZ, has always been a lure for many Northern Europeans, who wanted to experience a different life, like the hippies of fifty years ago, who moved from Crete and Ibiza, to Goa in India. “There, they dreamed that they would never return to cold, materialistic Germany. They nervously counted expiring traveller’s checks and weren’t exactly generous in tipping locals (…) They profited enormously from low prices and created the illusion that, for some reason, people in poor countries were moving into higher spiritual realms. Locals, on the other hand, saw hippies more as lazy and stingy,” writes TAZ.

“No way out south or north”

“Today the belief that happiness is intertwined with the endless sun is obsolete, like a faded hat (…) In Crete the temperature reaches 40C degrees in the shade or even up to 44C, depending on the weather. Spain is no better. And in Germany we now have such temperatures due to climate change.” In December, Crete is predicted to have17 degrees, rain… but also an absence of heating , notes TAZ mockingly.

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However, just by doing simple math, it seems that it is economically advantageous for a German to move to Crete: “Sleeping in a hostel with a shared room in Chania costs 20 euros online. A total of 600 euros per month, but without food, without airfare, or anything else. So basically you save nothing compared to a few hundred euro increase in gas bills. The truth is: There is no exit either to the South or to the North. We have to endure and change reality. Because it won’t really be better elsewhere.”