Iceland: Don

Elvis once sang passionately about his blue suede shoes. He didn


That is so true. Like Elvis cared for his blue suede shoes more than anything, Icelanders love their cars. They love being able to drive their shiny new SUVs and monster jeeps wherever they need to go (rarely outside city limits), even the shortest of distances. They may hardly be able to afford the monthly down payment of the car loan they took or all the gasoline these status symbols require, but who cares? Many considered such cars an absolute necessity.

But now fuel prices are skyrocketing, which means that many car owners will have to change their lifestyles to make ends meet. The world market price of oil continues to rise, the ISK is depreciating while the USD is appreciating, and the Icelandic state claims its percentage (which truckers say is unfairly high) of every liter of fuel sold, now priced at around ISK 150 (USD 2.0, EUR 1.28).

In protest, truck drivers and jeep owners have blocked the main traffic veins during rush hour in Reykjavik and the greater capital region day after day for one week now, honked their horns and organized demonstrations outside the Althingi parliament, where they handed in their demands on Tuesday.

Iceland Review