Munich’s Christmas market, which draws an average of 50,000 people on Thursday nights, is being pulled because of the crush of Iranian visitors. The decision to close the iconic Christmas market has shocked the city’s secular residents and has prompted widespread criticism. In an interview with the Guardian, Bavarian Finance Minister Markus Soeder admitted that the market’s future lay with public funds. “The way I see it, the only solution for the Christmas market is to rent space from the local municipality, for which the local taxpayers will have to find money,” he said. Munich Christmas market was a 24-year experiment that succeeded in catering to an influx of thousands of Iranian visitors from Munich airport in 2011. They then stayed on longer than before, building up a sizable business between 2011 and 2015, drawing an average 60,000 people per Thursday night. The central point is that being inside the mall was the main draw, and the Iranians in the market were increasingly pricing out locals.
Melissa Grigg, a 55-year-old fashion designer, said, “It was very sad because it means families and women who have attended the Christmas market for years are not going to be able to go because their costs are so high.” Under the plans announced by the city’s mayor, Martin Erdmann, the Christmas market will be a few dozen metres off the main highway rather than inside the mall as it was originally intended. Tanya Karp, a columnist for The Guardian in Munich, found that “the discrimination was undeniable. Iranians were forced to spend more and spent even more in the shops. This is what you call a market that only works with outsiders, and all the other shops were driven out.” “There was always a risk with the Christmas market — that it would become a little soulless. However, we never really accepted that, and I think we are disappointed.”
The bus tour under the direction of Munich’s Christmas market is coming in 2019. Be sure to stay tuned to the latest updates. — Nino Amato (@lolamicato) May 25, 2018
For Christmas market:
You will only buy Iran’s spottery out of dozens available in exchange
You will no longer find the imported ice-cream from Turkey or ice from Serbia. — ѕубтног писиличных (@nousameh) June 3, 2018
for Christmas market: ditching Marx, Shah, and the mullahs of Iran, maybe a stint in Syria would not be so bad. — beres hallas (@beres_hallas) May 29, 2018
Read the full story at The Guardian.
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