Feature: Athens finds its Christmas spirit at end of difficult year

Taking advantage of the nice and unusually warm weather for the season, hundreds of Athenians went out on the streets of the Greek capital to do their Christmas shopping on Thursday, one day before the celebrations.

"Our economic power is reduced. Therefore we are pickier and our gifts are more special. Perhaps this is more important and significant because we choose more carefully and are more specific in what we want," said Stefanos Kosmidis.

The year of 2015 was very hard for the Greeks. The radical left SYRIZA party came to power in January and began negotiations with Greece's lenders that lasted several months and brought the country a step away from exiting the euro zone. In mid-July, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras signed the third bailout which brought to the Greeks new cuts and heavy taxes. Meanwhile, Greek banks closed and capital controls were imposed.

"The situation is hard. We must cut a lot of our expenses. But I believe that we must be patient. Only that way we could overcome the difficulties," said Kostas, a freelancer who only give his first name.

The Hellenic Confederation of Commerce and Entrepreneurship estimated that the turnover of December 2015 will shrink by 8.3 percent compared to that of 2014.

According to experts, that is the result of a sequence of events that had negative impact both on consumer confidence and the smooth functioning of businesses.

The turnover of December 2015 is estimated at 3.22 billion euros(3.53 billion U.S. dollars), while the figure was 5.55 billion euros in 2009.

"There are not as many customers as a decade ago. Of course, we have many problems due to the economic crisis. I wish that everything will go better for all of us," Eleni, a public servant said.

At the same time the cost of the Christmas table in Greece will be slightly higher, by 1.82 percent, compared to 2014, according to the results of a survey conducted by the Institute for Trade and Services of the Hellenic Confederation of Commerce and Entrepreneurship from Dec. 16 to Dec. 21.

"We are all looking for bargains at this time, so we can find lower prices even for meat, vegetables, fresh fruits and everything else," English teacher Lia Thomadaki said.

Under the main slogan "Athens is celebrating", the Municipality of Athens has organized events for residents and foreign visitors. The Christmas tree and decoration at the central Syntagma square are surrounded by an ice rink for children.

The events include many theatrical performances, concerts of classical and modern music that will continue till the first week of 2016. Enditem