Greeks spend more on Orthodox Easter despite debt crisis

Despite a severe debt crisis, Greeks have seen an increase in the overall spending this year for Orthodox Easter, the most important religious holiday in Greece, which was celebrated on April 12, an investigation of the National Confederation of Greek Commerce showed.

Such costs during Orthodox Easter, which is considered more important than Christmas, include the big traditional Easter meal and presents for the God children, while a short trip to the countryside to celebrate Easter is also a tradition for most Greeks.

The National Confederation of Greek Commerce estimated that the cost of the traditional Easter meal was 5.23 percent more expensive for the average Greek family this year than in the past. The average meal cost a 5-member family about 104 euros compared to 99 euros in 2014.

This rise was mainly due to the shortage of lambs, which constitute the main and most basic component of an Easter meal in Greece. Because of disease and low temperatures in winter,lambs were fewer this year and their cost rose more than 20 percent, while fruit and vegetables were also more expensive by 18.35 percent.

However, the price of other traditional Easter products like tsoureki cake, eggs and the coloring which is used to dye them red dropped by 14.04 percent, 18.47 percent and 17.97 percent respectively.

The cost for the special Easter candle, the traditional present that god parents buy for their god children to hold at the Resurrection ceremony in church, ranged from 4 to 5 euros for the simple candles to 40 euros for the ones with an attached toy.

Because of the unusually low temperature this year, typical Easter holiday destinations in the islands of the Aegean Sea saw an average 30 percent decrease in bookings, with popular Mykonos island reporting a hotel occupancy of only 60-70 percent and Patmos, an island of religious significance, a mere 50 percent. On the other hand, hotel occupancy in mountain destinations and ski-centers reached 80-90 percent.

In Kalavryta, a popular ski-center about 200 km northwest of the capital Athens, the cost for a 4-day all-inclusive holiday for a 4-member family would be around 300 euros, while in some hotels a room for four people cost 100 euros per night, compared to 200 euros last year, and a meal for four people in a local restaurant could cost about 40 euros.

In a show of solidarity to the citizens who are suffering the most because of the economic crisis, an Easter feast was organized by the Ministry of Defense and the Armed forces in the Greek Army's Park in Goudi, an area in east Athens, on Easter Sunday, where 3,000 portions of Easter food were distributed to the unemployed and other vulnerable segments of the population.

The event, attended by Defence Minister Panos Kammenos, also included music and dance programs. Endit