Last Week in Denmark
Curious about what’s really happening in Denmark — and how it affects the life of internationals living here? Each week, two hosts from the LWID community talk through the top news stories and developments — in English — sharing personal insights and international perspectives. It’s a clear and accessible conversation about life in Denmark, made for people who live here but didn’t grow up here. Last Week In Denmark is a volunteer-driven media project with a simple mission: to empower people through information.
With a mix of short summaries, thoughtful discussion, and context you can actually use, we cover everything from housing and healthcare to politics. Whether you're new to Denmark or have been here for years, this is your go-to bite-sized update on what’s happening — and why it matters to you. Thank you for helping us grow.
Last Week in Denmark
Mortgages, Tourism Goals & German Migration in Denmark: LWID S2E4
In this episode, we discuss the holiday season and festivals like Halloween, Christmas and traditions from Arun's homeland India, the Danish government's increased investment into promoting Denmark as a tourism destination, the impact of climate change on Denmark, as well as the recent trend of Germans opting to move across the border.
Topics covered in today’s podcast:
- Festivals and Traditions in Denmark and beyond (00:57)
- Preparing for a mortgage loan meeting (11:47)
- International-friendly banks in Denmark (28:36)
- Investment into tourism promotion abroad (30:31)
- Summer in Denmark (33:24)
- Climate change and flood risks (36:52)
- Germans are moving to Denmark (37:55)
Be a podcast transcript editor: https://forms.gle/FVETZptfbvAn2RzK7
👀 LWID Substack: English -Romanian - Polish - Spanish - Turkish - Italian - German - Hungarian
🛍️ LWID merchandise: https://last-week-in-denmark.tpopsite.com/shop
❓ Email:lastweekdk@gmail.com
Follow:
https://www.instagram.com/last_week_in_denmark/
https://www.facebook.com/lastweekindenmark
https://www.linkedin.com/company/lastweekindenmark
website: https://lwid.dk/
🎵 Music,Jack Leatherbarrow @ Wizmedia: https://wiz-media.co.uk/
Arun Prakash:
Okay. Yes. Hello, everyone. Welcome to this episode number four unfolded. How are you doing, Narcis?
Narcis George Matache
No. Well, it's been a while since we talked, and on this occasion, I want to apologize to our listeners that we weren't able to keep up with the recordings as we wanted every week. But until, yeah, until we find the flow for this podcast, then becomes a routine for us to record it every weekend. Then we can take more responsibility for claiming it to be a weekly affair. But until then, how am I?
Well, it's close to November, right? So now I'm discussing about Saturday, going to open the Christmas season in Blockus in the school tour park. And there will be 2 million lights. So it should be fun. I mean, it's time to start shopping for your Christmas gifts and preparing for everything that the holiday means, right? Like planning your holiday vacation and planning holiday gifts and thinking about the Advent calendar, which one you're going to buy this year, and thinking about the Christmas parties, because those will be quite a few and you have to make sure you go to all of them. So, pretty much all the weekends from November till January are just Christmas parties. And what about you, Arun?
Arun Prakash
I have been very much soaked into work and apologize for the audience listening to this podcast because I think it was because of me. The podcast couldn't be possible last week, but coming back to the week, I think it was pretty busy the entire week with work and also other commitments on the weekends. I have been invited to a Halloween party, which I have never been to, but I know it's quite a culture in Denmark, and I actually think there is so much influence from the west that is also seen in the way Halloween is celebrated in Denmark. And people ask me, the person who invited me to the Halloween party, to dress up in a weird costume that I don't have, and I don't think I could make. I have to make a lot of effort to become somewhat, you know, creepy. I don't know if it's creepy or if it has to be some sort of.
Narcis George Matache
It takes some, some blood or some, some cut yourself a little bit, you know, and just like smash your face and then it's more real than everything.
Arun Prakash:
I mean, it's going to be fun the next couple of days because the. The party is on Friday and I'm looking forward to it, on how it could unfold, you know, and I will be able to survive that.
Narcis George Matache
But I mean, did you know that there is a tradition to. On the Halloween day, which is Thursday, there is a tradition to paint, to do something, to go to work in a weird way, either being painting your face or.
Arun Prakash:
Yeah, yeah.
Narcis George Matache
I don't know if you have noticed that last year, with your colleagues or wearing some weirder clothes than usual.
Arun Prakash:
Some of them did. And I recognize when I walk to my office, there's a lot of houses that has been very spooky. And they had a lot of these decorations which was. If you, if you look. Look at them for the very first time, and you would definitely be scared. And I, remember in my canteen, my office canteen, there were finger look-alike decorations where it was chopped, and I was like, so gross. I would say, what the f. And then suddenly 2.2seconds of adrenaline rush, and then I have to like, oh, it's not real.
Narcis George Matache
No. Okay. I can't believe that this still works on some people.
Arun Prakash:
I have no idea because I'm not even prepared for this. For example, if it's a season that you're looking forward to, you probably would know the context, especially from me. From my perspective, we don't celebrate Halloween in India. It's not a culture. But I understand there's a culture in Denmark about Festalown that is more or less similar to Halloween, but it is not the season either. So it's more or less like Festalaun.
Narcis George Matache
Festeloven is more children beating up cats in barrels? That was a tradition, right? It was not about celebrating the dead. It's about killing cats for fun.
Arun Prakash: Killing cats, killing cats for fun.
Narcis George Matache
That was the purpose, right? You would put live cats in barrels, and you'll spit the damn barrels out.
Arun Prakash: Yeah.
Narcis George Matache
And it used to be all the drunk men doing that. Now it's the children, and the barrels are full of candies. The good old times, eh? Do you have any weird traditions like that in India that you are a bit ashamed of?
Arun Prakash
I mean, any festival that requires me to wear Indian traditional clothes, I would definitely think twice. Number one, no, it's not something. Yeah, clothing. I mean, there is a lot of colorful clothing in India. Every festival we wear the most, I would say, vivid colors, not gray and black and shades of gray like in Denmark. So. But I don't have that much collection, even myself, even in India. So I have to, like, ah, I need to buy something. So I don't. I don't look different, but spooky or weird. I don't think we have a culture. We don't actually have that in our culture, any. But. But there are a lot of gods in India. There are A lot of festivals in India, and Danish people are like, Oh, how do you celebrate throughout the year?" You have something or the other going on every single month or twice. Twice a month. And I think that's, that's unusual. Pretty unusual for teens to have, you know, these kinds of events throughout the year. Yeah.
Narcis George Matache
But the, how many gods, Arun, how many gods do you, do you have in your living room watching over you while you sleep? Yeah, yeah. Or in your bedroom?
Arun Prakash
Good question. And I think it's very, it's very common to have a belief among among ancestors. We also worship our ancestors.
Narcis George Matache
Okay.
Arun Prakash
But I have a tradition of having some beliefs. I'm not super religious, but I do accept the fact that I, I, I have worshipped, let's say, the Destroyer. The Krishna, the destroyer.
Narcis George Matache: Shiva.
Arun Prakash: Shiva. Shiva is quite popular in the South.
Narcis George Matache: Krishna is like, because it's like a warrior.
Arun Prakash: He's a destroyer.
Narcis George Matache: So you're like, this is like a bad guy, as. Oh, he's the tough guy. What about Krishna? What is Krishna?
Arun Prakash: Krishna is, I think, one of the most powerful is the main God.
Narcis George Matache: Right.
Arun Prakash: Depiction. Yeah, yeah. But I don't think there's one big main God.
Narcis George Matache: Who's the daddy of them all, man? Who's the daddy of them all?
Arun Prakash: A very subjective question. If I have to go with the daddy of all, I think it's Shiva from South India. We think Shiva is there and I.
Narcis George Matache: Think North Indians will not be happy with your choice.
Arun Prakash: But I think it's a big lane that goes from north to south. And there are a lot of deities and temples that are designed. I think one thing that I could understand from these mythological characters that we have been believing in, the temples, and then it's called the. Yeah. Based on the sun's trajectory. And then they have some sort of proof why this temple is built at so and so location. And it has been, I would say, partially proven in science that this is where sun transits. Or you get the, you get the belief that okay, there is some, there should be some reason behind it. We don't have a con. I would say proof, solid proof to back that up. But yeah, many believe. I believe what my ancestors told me and I don't question them. But if I have to challenge. And being an atheist, I would definitely not find. Yeah. Reasons. A strong reason. It's still a belief, and I think I accept people believing it, and yeah. Yeah.
Narcis George Matache: I mean, whatever keeps you healthy mentally, you know.
Arun Prakash: Yeah.
Narcis George Matache:
It's a choice. It's a choice to do that. I mean, when I was young, my favorite thing was to grill my religion teachers because I would read the Bible and then I'd take specific segments of it and then I'd challenge them on them because I'll say How is this possible? This doesn't make sense. Or. And I'll quite literally read the Bible, you understand? Like at the beginning, there were men and women, and they had two sons. So what happened next?
Arun Prakash:
I guess, I guess at any given history, before we started, let's say challenging these notions, there used to be some sort of external power that we believed so to let's say share moral values and organize and have, have this belief. I think at some point that helped. But I guess countries like Denmark are completely the opposite. You can't find a lot of religious people around. It's a major Atheist in this country, I guess and, and very few.
Narcis George Matache:
I would say it's, it's quite funny that now there is a resurgence of not of belief in Christianity but in the pre-Christianity into the old Viking gods and people who want to return to the, to reconnect with the traditionalism of being a Viking. And even though the blood has thinned quite severely, and it's quite difficult to prove any sort of bloodline connection with the Vikings if they take any real DNA tests. But it's, it's quite funny. I mean, people now are searching for all sorts of spiritual refuges that will allow them to feel happy that they are alive and to find meaning in being alive. And I think that's, that's the reason, because when you are living in abundance in a middle-class society like ours, you tend to easily get bored of life. That's why we have so many people on the happy pill. Right. Like half a million people in Denmark take a pill every day to keep them happy. No wonder we are the happiest country, the former happiest country in the world. Now, Finland, I guess, has gotten better at poisoning their people with happy pills.
Arun Prakash:
I think for the last couple of years, Finland has been the case. But I think it's more or less. Yeah, Finland, Yeah. Okay.
Narcis George Matache: Finland versus Denmark.
Arun Prakash:
Finland versus Denmark. That's the deal. Yes. Narciss. So coming back to our highlights of the week, I've really been curious on the article about how to prepare for your first meeting with the bank when you're asking for a mortgage loan. I just really like. Okay, this is something that I really need to know more about. So let's start with my, I would say My story. I have been looking for apartments, and in the articles I could also see that you have mentioned, the team has mentioned the bank can offer loans which is up to four times your annual income or even.
Narcis George Matache:
Five times if you have like a lot of disposable income, like a lot of savings in your account, and 5.
Arun Prakash:
The percentage down payment if you are EU citizen. So for me, I would say the reality is that people ask us 15 to 20 percent as a down payment, and the mortgage is the remaining part. And so walk us through on, on.
Narcis George Matache:
No, no, no, the mortgage is always 80% no matter what you are. The rest is a bank loan. Okay, so the split is 80% down.
Arun Prakash:
Mortgage is 80 percent, 50 percent for the bank loan, and 5 percent cash.
Narcis George Matache:
Yeah, either can be 20% cash and 80% mortgage. It's up to you how you make up the rest of 20%. That's why it's usually 20% that they can ask max in cash from Europeans because 80% is the set by low mortgage level and there are not that many mortgage, let'sjust say lenders in the country. Despite what people think, a mortgage institution and a bank are not the same thing. A bank uses a mortgage institution to give mortgages. That's why multiple banks using the same mortgage institution, which means that they offer the same deal. So, yeah
Arun Prakash:
So, for the audience listening to this, the mortgage companies, such as let's say, real credit or new credit.
Narcis George Matache:
They new credit from the bank. Real credit is.
Arun Prakash: Yeah. And what else do we have for mortgages apart from real credit?
Narcis George Matache:
Total credit, I don't know them all, but I think total credit, the most common one.
Arun Prakash: Okay. And they offer an 80 percent mortgage loan. So to clarify. And then the remaining is basically a combination of three different.
Narcis George Matache: Of you and the bank.
Arun Prakash:
Yeah, me and the bank, yeah. Great. So the next step is approaching the bank. When you have decided which banks that are EU or non-EU friendly. Like, for example, expats like me, we struggle a lot to be able to, let's say get the mortgage and bank loan processed. I've tried two banks, NODEA and Dansk,e and I have faced rejections, and the reason could be very subjective, and it varies case by case. But in my opinion, it feels like I have to put in let's say a really high amount, which is 20 percentage, as down payment. And even though I have a permanent residency, so I'm more or less like enjoy the benefits of being a European, but I still consider why should I put 20 percentage down payment? And I don't know, I Mean, is it because the trust factor in the non-EUs is are low or how does it work? Is there any metrics that define who to trust and why to trust?
Narcis George Matache:
To be honest, it's very subjective, and I'm not sure if they actually base themselves on any actual data or facts. To be honest, in here it's just more like the bank tries to evaluate risk. What are, what is the chances you're going to be able to live in Denmark for the next 30 years, and then that you're going to be able to pay off the mortgage in the next 30 years? Because basically, what happens is that the banks facilitates a mortgage, which means they take a risk together with you. So that's why even if you put a 20% down payment and 20% comes from anywhere from the mortgage institution, the bank still has to vouch for you even though they have lent you no money. So they can still refuse you because of that. So they look at you and think, okay, what are the chances that this person could be kicked out of the country because of political changes in the next five to 10 years? It's quite volatile out there. Could it be that the far-right government can come in power and simply deport all the non-Europeans? It can be
Narcis George Matache:
It's a political risk. Does it mean that that person will not be able to pay their mortgage afterwards? It means so kind of, I agree.
Arun Prakash:
To that extent, where people with work permits face this, and that's a very usual thing to consider. It's very uncertain and very volatile. Right. But what if a permanent resident who has the, let's say, the advantage of even what if, the worst case scenario, if he or she loses the job, he still gets to stay in the country, which means that he will find ways to get employed as soon as possible if he or she has the motivation. And that goes for every other non-European. Right. For example, he or she loses the potential to work for a company and should be, it should be a risk that everybody faces, except let's say someone with work permits. And I agree, what I could challenge you is or not you, I mean, in general, the theory is I don't want to pay for a personal bank loan because then I'm basically putting a lot of interest apart from the interest for the loan itself. So I was like, how can I cut my additional expenditures and just pay for the mortgage?
Narcis George Matache:
But that would be 80. So you always have to be prepared with 20% then.
Arun Prakash:
Yeah, yeah. And if I don't manage to get the 20 percent, if I arrange A bank loan. Then I put more money as interest for that 15 percent of the bank loan or 10 percentage, whatever the amount is.
Narcis George Matache:
No, no, no. I mean, yeah, you're talking about interest rates now or what?
Arun Prakash: Interest rates? Yeah, interest rates.
Narcis George Matache: But interest rates are not in the 10 or 15%. We're talking about five at best.
Arun Prakash: Yeah, yeah. I wanted to avoid additional numbers, but.
Narcis George Matache:
Yeah, if you, I mean, think about it from a different perspective, like depends. Because remember what it said, it's about alone, it's four times your annual income, right? And if your family of two, let's say each of you makes half a million per year, you're 2.1 million. Which means you can take a house of up to 4 million. Let's say you have some savings that allow you to put 10%, which means you have like, 4.000000 in savings. That means you actually can get a 5 million loan. That means a 5 million house, you know. So if you want to put 20 on a 5 million house, what is that? 1 million. But you don't have 1 million right now. But you can afford the 5 million house. So either you go down, and you just take yourself a 2 million house, which you can afford to pay 20% now because you have the 400 000, or you take the loan because you feel like you deserve to be in a 5 million house. And it's fair enough, why not? I mean, not. It shouldn't be just the privilege of the rich to live in 5 million krona villas and whatnot. I wouldn't do it, obviously. But if that's your dream and having a very nice house is what makes you happy, then go for it. I mean, it's not impossible for, let's just say, a lower middle class to afford a pretty expensive villa in Denmark, as you can see.
Arun Prakash:
How is the. How is the housing market in Aalborg? Because Copenhagen, I would say it's impossible to find 2 million houses in I would say decent city. Closer city neighborhoods, close to the city, right? You have to go a bit off, let's say, place roll over Valby. It's impossible. You go further to Gentofte. That's the most expensive.
SPEAKER 3
Did you know that the Last Week in Denmark newsletter is available in 8 languages?
Narcis George Matache:
Hey there.
FJAN
This is FJAN from the last Week in Denmark podcast. And every week, you guys are tuning in to hear me and my fellow co-hosts talk about the top news of the week in English. But let's be real, we're all internationals. So not only are you speaking English every day. You're probably also speaking a bit of Danish, but you've probably also got your own native language as well, like the multilingual master you are. So why not treat yourself to the luxury of being able to read Danish news each week in your own native language? So head on over to last weekdk.substack.com, that's last weekdk.substack.com, and sign up for our newsletter, delivered to you every single Sunday.
Narcis George Matache:
You don't go north, you're going wrong if you go south towards Brndby Ishoi.
Arun Prakash: Yeah, exactly. Sulhavn is also one of the most expensive. It's very, very close to the city.
Narcis George Matache: Yeah.
Arun Prakash:
So the ideal option is moving towards the west.
Narcis George Matache
Yeah. I mean, come to the north in Aalborg here with 5 million, you are a king. I swear, you can have a property with 40 hectares, a lake, a forest, and then a huge building. A huge, huge building.
Arun Prakash:
Yeah. I. I would definitely consider it as my retirement home in Denmark. And then I have to find a job in Alpo if I have to find an apartment.
Narcis George Matache
But I think you work from home. Your job. Aren't you like an IT Engineer or something?
Arun Prakash:
That's the common misconception that all Indians are IT consultants. We fix computers, which we are by default. We have the skill set. But I don't think. Not all Indians living in Denmark are IT Engineers.
Narcis George Matache
No.
Arun Prakash:
Are IT engineers. And I think yeah, I work in the construction sector, and I'm completely different. It's data.
Narcis George Matache
Do you have to work with your hands, or do you have to work in front of a computer?
Arun Prakash:
That is technically right. I work with my computer, but that doesn't mean that I have to work from a remote location or work from home. And I hate working from home. And I do workshops and facilitation that involve people and collaborating with people in physical meetings. So. And that is why I think moving out of, let's say, Far Room or Boswell, is still a bit on the outside. The city and. And anywhere close to the city, it's impossible. You have to forget buying a house in Helloruop or crazy numbers. Yeah.
Narcis George Matache
20 million up. Oh my goodness.
Arun Prakash:
I have to forget. Forget buying an apartment.
Narcis George Matache
Nah. But I mean, Arun, you're pushing yourself. You're like punishing yourself if you choose to buy something in that direction. It's not like you can. I mean, I don't want to offend the Copenhagen listeners, but I wouldn't raise a family in the middle of the city, to be honest. And then the suburbs are safe, and the Suburbs are nice for. For. For family life. In the end, you need to have your peace. You. You shouldn't be living in a box with neighbors. Listen to your. To you through the. Through the walls. It's peaceful to have a house and a garden, and to be honest, I live in Alberg. I don't even live in Alberg. I live outside of Alberg. 30 kilometers.
Arun Prakash: Okay.
Narcis George Matache: I still managed to go from all.
Arun Prakash: 30 kilometers is quite some distance, right?
Narcis George Matache
It's half an hour with the car. So in the end, I still managed to go to Copenhagen for more important events and whatnot. So if you really want to, you can make it. That's what I'm saying is like if you. If you put your daily quality of life at the top, then that decision will come easily for you. But that's with time, you know, that's. It's. It's. It's. I wouldn't have fought like that in my 20s. In no way so.
Arun Prakash:
Great. I think it's fair. And, I also saw in the article that you have to like contact at least three different banks to get a loan. Mortgage loan offers. And why specifically more banks? Because then you get some comparisons to deal with.
Narcis George Matache:
Yeah, I mean, there should be. There are 60 banks in Denmark, you know. So there are chances that one has better, let's just say, conditions than another. It can be that they work with a different mortgage institution that offers better conditions. Or maybe they have lower fees as a bank for opening the bank account, the loan, because you know, you have to pay also even a fee to open the loan, a fee to operate the loan, and so on. So the bank also has some fees that they put on top of the interest rate because they need to make money on it. Right. So that's, that's why there are different banks, different conditions. Some banks might be more smaller might be more willing to. To give loans to people because they are. They don't have so many customers, and they're more despised. Spread to make. To. To make more business. So if you find a smaller bank, that might be your better bet. You know, if you keep getting refused by Nordea and New Credit, and what Danske bank or another thing would be to simply. I noticed with the Romanian community that if you get friendly with one or two Nord bank clerks, then you just have to always be like referring, hey, my friend Alexander, he wants to buy a house. Can you please help him out? And then they will help him out, you know, so it works a lot of relations that you build with the blank bank clerks at the different banks that they are. They have a lot more power also on how many discounts to give you on their pricing and whatnot. So they have a lot of power over the different clerks in the banks. So friendling, getting friendly with some of them doesn't hurt. Do you know your bank clerk?
Arun Prakash
Yeah. When I applied for a bank, I think the person who processes the loan right is that.
Narcis George Matache
No. But don't you have someone in the bank that's assigned to you for your needs?
Arun Prakash
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
Narcis George Matache: So that person, do you know that person?
Arun Prakash
I don't know them on a. Like I haven't built any relationship to talk about these. I just wrote emails, and I think it's a good tip that you're giving me to. I would say probably I will make a call and then take it from there. I think it's a good start.
Narcis George Matache:
Offer something for her for that person to work with. Like, for example, say I. Do you already have an investment account with them?
Arun Prakash
No, I have a savings account. I don't have an investing account.
Narcis George Matache:
Start an investment account. It's 500 crores a month that you can invest into something, and they will be happy to. They will treat you in a different way. So the more business you have with the bank, the more happy there will be to do things with you. We also had the same situation when we started the company and we were looking for a company account. I know many bank accounts. Many, many people were struggling and had difficulties in the past. I'm not talking today, but in the past couple of years. But in our case, it wasn'tdifficult at all to get a bank account just simply because we had a mortgage, we had a car loan, we had an investment account. We had different products that we were already using from them. So it was very natural for them to just give you give us yet another product from the bank. So the more relationships you build with a certain bank, the more likely they will be to trust you. Yeah. Go and ask for a meeting with your advisor. Hey, let's talk about my options, and then you can develop a relationship with, you know, have a little bit of small talk with that person. Try to be a bit personal, build, and then you know, they, they become like friends.
Arun Prakash
Good point. I'll try to do that. But thank you for the suggestion.
Narcis George Matache
I mean, it's one-on-one. Denmark.
Arun Prakash
Do you recommend any expat-friendly banks that you have come up with?
Narcis George Matache
It's hard to say anymore. I have believed for many years that Danske Bank was that because simply they were the first ones to accept me to have a Bank account in 2009 as a student. I know that they were refusing EU citizens as well in the beginning, many years ago. But when I needed a mortgage, for example, I had to switch to Nordea. They were more willing to give me a mortgage than Danske Bank was, for example, because Nordea is more risk-averse and has bigger. Nordea is probably the one growing the most in terms of mortgage selling. So they're the most likely to give out the mortgage to the higher risk. So it's hard to say if there is a bank that's very friendly towards internationals. Probably the most friendly would be Lunar. Right? Because they cannot see who they are processing. Thanks to the God of inorganic matter.
Arun Prakash: Okay.
Narcis George Matache:
AKA the Informatics Systems Saloon is in Revolut, becoming the most friendly bank for internationals because they cannot see who they're processing more or less. Right? More. Many of the things there are automated, but I don't know. I don't know. Can Luna give loans? I never even thought about that.
Arun Prakash
I have never even thought about having a bank loan with Lunar. But it is also very fast-growing as we speak, and I'll be surprised.
Narcis George Matache
If they don't have loans. They must have. They're a bank, right? So look at that.
Arun Prakash
I mean, I mean, it's also. I would say I'm thinking about my risk investing in Lunar or Revolut, which is new players in the market. And, yeah, there's. There should always be someone to talk to and build a relationship, or let's say, customer service. You know, I'm not sure if they. If the team or the size is in Lunar. And also. And also, yeah, basically, I'm not sure. But I think, I think it's.
Narcis George Matache
Not a traditional bank. Lunar, differently, it's not like you have a person there assigned to you to look after you, because they focus more on streamlining efficiency. Right. And that's the whole idea behind Lunar and why they can be cheaper sometimes than a traditional bank. But at the same time, if you want to build relationships and whatnot, then the traditional bank may be more fit for you.
Arun Prakash
Yeah, good. Yeah. So yeah, that was a good tip. And also suggestions with Lunar and Revolute. Let me think. But let's move on to the next topic, which is about money, but in a different aspect. 200 billion with a B, Danish runners' revenue from tourism in 2030. And the government is planning to achieve this goal by investing a lot of money to promote Denmark abroad. And also encourage us to visit other parts of Denmark. And let's talk about it. What's this ambitious goal more about?
Narcis George Matache
I mean, to be honest, I understand the push for more money invested in tourism, and we should have more focus into that. But to be honest, climate change is doing the work for us. The south of Europe is getting hotter and hotter every summer. 50 degrees, 45degrees, forest fires, and whatnot. So people actually have the highest increase in terms of tourists because we always have the German tourists as the main bulk. Norwegian, Swedish, the main bulk, have always been like that. And then the American tourists who come with their crazier ships in here. But what has been increasing like severely in the past two, three years, it's been Spanish people, Italians, Portuguese, and Greeks running away from the heat in their own country. So that's the new wave of, let's just call them, climate tourists. They cannot stand 50 degrees. It's not healthy for them to be there. So they go for not for one, two days. They come for a month or two.
Arun Prakash: Seriously, a month is a long lot of time.
Narcis George Matache: Yeah, but it's a month that they stay away from. 50 degrees, you know, oh yo.
Arun Prakash: Then they can choose to say different parts of Scandinavia, for example.
Narcis George Matache:
Yeah. I mean, who can afford to move around? They move around. Who can get a good deal in a vacation house down in some forest where it's clean, calm, and good enough? That's the new wave of tourists. And that will only increase. So it's not unrealistic to say that Denmark will go from 168 billion per year in tourist revenue to 200 million because literally we have almost full occupancy on our summer houses, hotels, and Airbnbs in the summer. July is, is, even though half of Denmark is gone, almost everything is, is taken. So it doesn't feel anymore like Denmark is empty in July like it used to once upon a time. I'm looking at my own village where I live here. It goes from a couple of thousand people to three times the population in the summer. It's incredible.
Arun Prakash
So, summer in Denmark is one of the best things I've had a feeling when I first came to Denmark. The first months, February was the coldest time, and it was also the coldest day for a very long period in 2019. And then when I went back after the contract ended in three months, it was the best season ever. In summer in Copenhagen, lots of people are outside. It felt like you had an air-conditioned room outside, and people stayed the entire day, the whole day outside. And I was like, okay, now I'm supposed to return to my home, which is also summer in India. Indian summer. It's a very, very hot. And I just miss the summer in Denmark when I came here for the first time. But, but it's, it's funny that they call Indian summer in Denmark here. I don't know why they adopted the name Indian Summer. I've. You have seen this phrase listed many times. Oh, now we have the Indian summer. I don't know really. Summer. Yeah, I've used it. I've been seeing this phrase called Indian summer. And I was like, Why do they refer to Indians here? And, the Indian summer has not come. I would say comfy. It's one of the, I would say scorching sunlight. Right. It's 40 plus. It's crazy in India. But I, I, I felt one of the best times in Denmark is between like May until the end of mid-August. Perfect weather and a lot of activities. And of course it's busy. Tivoli is just filled with tourists every day. And then you have all these cities that are just flocked with people.
Narcis George Matache:
And yeah, Denmark is a refuge for many people in the summer. Simply. That's the reality of it. And of course, it's not for everyone because it's still expensive to come here in the summer. And to be honest, if you have a house in a side village, even in the middle of nowhere, you can easily rent it out in a month with 40000 kronas, you can make good money with a vacation house. And now they have actually made it easier. They're gonna get more plots out so that you can buy them to build summer houses. So there'll be a lot more thousands of summer houses being built in the next period. And also it will become allowed to use the barn as a vacation house if you want to, or some farm dilapidated place which before you wouldn't ever be allowed to use, for example, glamping. Right. So to set up tents and people can come and stay in tents. Luxurious tents, of course, but still tents. So it's a business. It's a business that's growing and it's definitely not a bad idea for you to have an investment in a, in a summer house or in a, some sort of abuilding close to anything that can be recreational like a forest or a beach, which is not difficult because Denmark is literally surrounded by beaches and we have quite a lot of forests and we're gonna have even more forests in the future. So I would say that it's, it'sit's a, it's a great investment to have. If you're thinking about getting yourself something, get yourself a summer house. With the current climate change and I don't know if you have seen the report, but it seems we cannot really stop it. It gets worse. So the climate will be altered quite significantly. That means that Denmark will become more and more sought after as a refuge place. So having yourself a housing of any sort anywhere in Denmark, not anywhere outside of the flood areas, which is 40% of Denmark, keepingin mind that otherwise you'll have to invest quite a lot few money to safeguard your house. So as long as you stay outside of the flood areas and get yourself some sort of housing building whatsoever, then you'll do well because you'll have quite a lot of passive income coming just from that. Call it your retirement plan if you want. No, but talking about people coming to Denmark and tourists, we can also talk about the Germans, right? Why are Germans coming to Denmark? And now Denmark is like so happy about it. Like, there are literally articles on Dr. Saying the Germans are coming, and we could not wait more for it. Something like that. So it's, it's incredible that a group of internationals, ergo the Germans, are being celebrated for their arrival into Denmark, and happily enough, they choose to move to small communities like islands and small cities and so on because they are trying to escape. Many come from Berlin, from Hanover, from Hamburg, which are very busy large cities where it's bustling life, and they want more quiet. You know, they want to kind of reduce the speed. They want to be able to. Okay, now it's time to understand what's happening and reduce speed a little bit. And I think a lot of, we have noticed also a lot with students coming from Germany that they say that Denmark is like a mental health retreat for them. Life is simply slower here. They're, they're not the same intensity like in Germany. Work is less, life is more.
Arun Prakash
It's interesting to hear. Of course, I think Berlin and Hamburg are busy and very industrious cities. And, it's very, I would say, driven by jobs and a lot of corporate companies setting their bases. And on the other side, I know a lot of quite, quite some Germans through a lot of other venues, and they, they say, say that Copenhagen life is really, I mean city. Copenhagen is still a city, but they feel Copenhagen has, much better life quality index compared to the life quality they have in Berlin or Hanover, or Hamburg. And, but yeah, Hanover is not in the List. It's one of the beautiful cities I've ever been to. Hanover and anything close to the Rhine River, the banks of that. But I do agree, but what is the demography like? Are these young people coming in? Are there people looking for, let's say, retirement? What is the age group?
Narcis George Matache:
Families with children.
Arun Prakash
Okay, so it's actually mainly families of children.
Narcis George Matache:
Yeah, there are many people who either because they want to homeschool their children in Germany because it's not allowed. So in Denmark, you're allowed to homeschool your children. So a lot of them are simply doing it because of that and that's why they are choosingmore, let's just say secluded areas, smaller communities or they just simply want, they feel like they, they don't want their children to live the same level of stress or, and simply give them a different alternative to life than the what they are experiencing. And many of them, to be honest, have traveled as children to Denmark, have discovered many of these places, and it feels comfortable for them to choose Denmark as a place to move. So that's why in the last couple of years we had 5000 Germans coming to Denmark. Right now, there are 33000, which makes them one of the top five largest minorities in Denmark. But if you include the historical Germans that have lived all their life and five, ten generations down the line, they always lived in Denmark, then the Germans are the largest minority in Denmark. Clearly. I mean south of south of Denmark, there are many, many, many villages, and even some cities have German mayors running it. So it's very common down south. Maybe it's not so common for your reality in Copenhagen or mine in the north. Definitely not. But so if you call, if you look only at Germans that are newly arrived or Germans who are born in Germany but moved to Denmark during their lifetime, we have roughly around 33000 Germans which, as I said, they put them in the top five after Romanians, Polish, Ukrainians, Syrians and Turkish.
Arun Prakash
And, when you say southern Denmark, it's southern Jutland. Right. That's the southernmost part that shares the borders or which part of southern.
Narcis George Matache:
Okay, so that's exactly that one. Yeah, it's the Tunde. Basically. It's, it's a lot of villages that you could even say there is some villages where it is majorities of Germans, but Danish German. I don't know if there's. I'm actually curious to put together the old German minority from south of Denmark and a newly arrived German in the last 10 years. And see the differences in the way they speak German, are the differences in the way they have traditions. Is there actually anything in common between the two groups that could be interesting? Because we also noticed this with Romanians. There were the Romanians who arrived in Denmark before the communists fell, so they ran away from Romania's political refugees in the 80s and the Romanians who arrived after Romania joined EU. And I could see that the Romanians, the two Romanian groups, are not exactly alike very much. You could say that the Romanians came in the 80s, and they have integrated themselves quite well. Many are like working with doctors or university teachers or. And their children. Unfortunately, many of them don't speak Romanian and they kind of, I don't know if forcefully assimilated into the local culture. While the Romanians who arrived after the EU joined, they had a completely different attitude. Right. They tried more to ensure that the next generation is born here, speak Romanian and they have some connections with the Romanian culture and identity. So yeah, it's different groups. So just because we are Romanians, both groups doesn't make us very similar.
Arun Prakash
Language. Yeah, yeah. If you talk about Indians, I think one of the biggest challenges we face is, of course, the language use of very popular to have the English language to communicate, and very seldom the people uses their mother to young. And a lot of communitieslike Tamils and Telugu and Hindi, they have, let's say, volunteers to have classes during the weekends to educate kids. So they have the language preserved and also continue the, I would say, legacy or tradition of learning language.
Narcis George Matache
So thank you so much for today. It was nice to. To be back in front of the. The mic. It's always a very. To have this very. By the way, we are recording this usually in the evenings at 8. So if we look a bit more groggy, let's just say it's simply because it's quite late in the working day. But we're still doing this because it's fun, it's. It's fun to discuss various subjects. There are. It is, it's a. It's a talk show in the end. It's not, it's not necessarily a news, let's just say format where we will just read news for you, and that's it. It's basically we pick up whatever you can find that's interesting in the newsletter from last week in Denmark, and then just discuss it based on our own experiences and our own opinions. So that's what it is. So if you like this kind of format, you're welcome to say so. And you're also welcome to say, Hey, I would like to participate in your discussion, and I think we can have more people, it could be fun to actually have some more people to join us here and there that want to discuss with us on whatever you want related to life in Denmark. But otherwise, thank you so much for today, Arun. It was fun to talk again, definitely.
Arun Prakash
And it was also good discussions about a lot of topics, especially mortgages and housing. And yes, for the audience listening, thank you so much, and enjoy the rest of the week. Bye to the loo.
Kalpita and Goulda
Hey, this is Kalpita and Goulda, co-hosts of the Last Week in Denmark podcast. Did you know Last Week in Denmark offers sponsored content in the newsletter? Our reporters are producing original articles and content tailored for internationals in Denmark. So if you have a business our readers should know about, let us write about it. Get in touch with us at reporter Wid DK. You can also reach out to us on LinkedIn and Instagram at last weekindenmark.
