In the face of rising energy prices, reduced gas supplies and inflation, Greek politicians such as Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias have invited German citizens to spend the winter in Greece.
As the 48-year-old told “Bild” on Thursday, it was a great pleasure for the Greeks to “welcome German pensioners who want to experience a ‘Mediterranean winter’ with Greek hospitality, mild weather and quality services.”
The tourism minister advertised via Twitter with an advertising video in which a previously stressed Austrian raved about the advantages of Greece in clumsy English: “Once you are in Greece, you will want to stay forever.”
The mayor of Chania on the island of Crete, Panagiotis Simandirakis, also supported the call. “We invite every German who wants to come to us this winter to live here – away from the crises,” he told Bild.
Since you don’t need heating in the house on Crete, the island is very suitable for surviving a crisis winter. “No German will freeze in Greece,” said the 40-year-old politician.
Concerns about cold German apartments in the coming winter are not entirely unfounded due to an impending gas shortage. If there is a shortage of gas in winter, consumers should be given special protection under the current regulation. Last Tuesday, however, Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck questioned the previous prioritization. Private households would also have to “pay their share”, according to the 52-year-old politician in Vienna.
As a survey by “Spiegel” in cooperation with the opinion research institute “Civey” has shown, two-thirds of all respondents are worried that private households will not be able to get enough gas in winter either.
For example, 63 percent of the approximately 5,000 respondents stated that they had “great” or “rather great” concerns about being directly affected by the impending gas shortage. Judging by the survey, the female respondents were more concerned than the males. While 67 percent of women rated their concern as “major” or “rather major”, only 58 percent of men did.
According to the “Deutscher Wetterdienst”, the Greek capital Athens has an average of 4 to 5 hours of sunshine a day from November to February and an average maximum temperature of between 13 and 19 degrees. The average low temperature at night from November to February is between seven and twelve degrees.
For comparison: In Berlin, the average maximum temperature between November and February is 3 to 5 degrees and the average low temperature is between minus 2 and 2 degrees.
How warm the coming winter will be in Greece and whether temperatures will be above average as a result of ongoing global warming cannot yet be predicted.
