Visiting the Czech Republic around Christmas time? There are plenty of unusual things to see and experience. We take a look at five Czech traditions that might seem a little bit strange to everyone else. Pet a carp The traditional Czech Christmas meal consists of fried carp. Many families actually buy this fish alive and keep it in their bathtubs for days or weeks until it’s ready to be cooked. In recent years, a lot of families have changed the tradition to avoid animal cruelty – they still buy the carp but on Christmas Eve, they release it into a river rather than eating it. Potato salad and soups are also a big part of Christmas celebrations, which mainly happen on the night of the 24th. The TV is on all-day On December 24th, local channels show fairy tales all day long and it’s a tradition for families to wake up on that day, turn the TV on and just leave it on in the background for the entire day. In many homes, the TV even stays on during dinner. There is no Santa Claus On Christmas Day you won’t find kids searching for Santa and his reindeer to deliver presents. Instead, presents are delivered...
Czech inflation accelerated to a fresh 13-year high in November, and while the acceleration was less pronounced than in the past four months, the central bank seemed likely to continue with policy tightening. Inflation in central Europe’s economies is running hotter than many European peers with external factors like supply problems and rising energy costs mixing with domestic drivers such as tight labour markets and strong wage growth. Central banks around the region have reacted with sharp rate rises, with Czech policymakers among the most aggressive, having delivered 200 basis points in hikes since September. Czech inflation data on Friday showed the headline rate rose to 6.0%, the highest level since October 2008. However, the growth from the previous month’s reading – 0.2 percentage points – slowed down after four months of steady acceleration. Analysts see the central bank raising interest rates further, in line with its outlook, as they point to the government’s waiver on value-added tax on energy as a factor preventing inflation from rising much stronger in November. “Inflation is more than 1 percentage point above the central bank’s forecast. The crown’s reluctance to strengthen also speaks in favour of monetary policy tightening,” Komercni Banka analyst Michal...
Using minimal interventions, local practice U / U Studio has turned a neglected space into a new community asset. Underneath an elevated busy road at Vltavska, a neglected pedestrian underpass has been transformed into a colourful public space, supporting skateboarding, basketball, BMX, bouldering and other activities. While the space was previously avoided, it is now hoped that a range of residents and visitors, especially young people, will use it and feel welcome there. The transformation was led by local architecture practice U / U Studio, which is known for designing engaging skate parks across Prague and further afield. ‘As “skate architects”, we immediately knew that implementation of skateboarding and other leisure activities is the perfect way of healing this area,’ says Martin Hrouda from U / U Studio. ‘The skate community occupied this spot right after opening and is taking care of it. Putting new life and joy into the spot seems to be working and the place has become safe for everyone.’ The project team prioritised reuse, using minimal new materials in order to transform the space for better public use. Colourful paint – in red, pink and orange – has been used to enliven the concrete structure, including the...
If your day doesn’t start until you’re up to speed on the latest headlines, then let us introduce you to our new morning fix. The Czech Republic has considerably improved its position in the implementation of the measures against money laundering and financing of terrorism, the Council of Europe’s (CE) anti-money laundering body MONEYVAL writes in its report released today. Outgoing Prime Minister Andrej Babis hopes that the new government will follow the approach to the EU of his own cabinet, he said in the farewell letter to the ambassadors of EU countries in the Czech Republic, published on his webpage today. The Czech People in Need Humanitarian organisation has resumed its work in Afghanistan and foreign workers, including several Czechs, have been in its mission since November, the organisation has told CTK in its press release. The number of phishing attacks in the Czech Republic has increased significantly this year. Czechs encountered them 35% more often in 2021 than last year. This is according to an analysis by antivirus company Avast. Fraudulent messages sent via email are the most widespread (82%), followed by phishing websites (25%) and SMS messages (22%). Škoda Transportation will deliver 14...
The potential adoption of the euro would further increase the benefits resulting from Czech Republic’s trade links with the euro area countries, according to an analysis conducted by the Czech National Bank. On the other hand, Czech Republic’s adoption of the euro currency would bring risks arising from the loss of the Czech National Bank’s independent monetary policy and the stabilizing role of the koruna’s exchange rate. Czech’s central bank divided its assessment into three groups: low-risk, neutral and high-risk indicators for adopting the euro. The document points out that the economic level of the Czech Republic measured as GDP per capita in purchasing power parity approached the euro area average in 2020. However, the convergence of price and wage levels did not progress significantly. That is a factor against the early adoption of the euro. The Czech National Bank also pointed out to the role of the euro in Czech companies, which use the common currency more and more. Other low-risk indicators include the high level of economic activity of the Czech population and the low unemployment rate. The analysis considers, for example, the extent of financial intermediation, private sector indebtedness, and the structure of financial assets and liabilities of non-financial corporations...
Prague ranks 110th in the 2021 Inrix Global Traffic Scorecard with an average of 51 hours spent in congestion per year. This is 20% less than before the epidemic. Other Czech cities included in the scorecard include, Hradec Králové (53 hours on average spent in traffic jam per year), Pardubice (51), České Budějovice (38), Brno (36), Olomouc (31), Ústí nad Labem (24), and Ostrava (17). The study analyzed congestion in 1,064 cities in 38 countries. London is the world’s most congested city and. Drivers lost 148 hours in traffic jams last year, down just 1 percent from pre-COVID levels. In second place was Paris – a city where authorities have been far more proactive in putting emergency bike lanes in place and restricting motor traffic than the British capital has – on 140 hours, a 25 hour improvement. And in both cases, average last-mile motor vehicle speed actually improved by 10 per cent. To determine the cities that have the worst traffic, INRIX collects billions of anonymous data points daily from an array of sources, including connected vehicles, mobile devices, navigation units, fleet vehicles, road and garage infrastructure, and publicly available information on incidents. “For nearly every country across the...
Meteorologists’ warning of heavy snowfall has come true. It has been snowing heavily across the Czech Republic since early this morning, and the snowfall is complicating the situation, especially for drivers. Heavy snowfall began on Thursday morning and will probably continue until Friday night. In the southeast of Moravia, up to 25 centimeters of new snowfall is expected. “In many places, the roads are blocked by accidents, which fortunately have been without injuries so far, or without serious injuries. We have also recorded several accidents involving pedestrians. You too should be very careful. If you don’t have to, don’t leave the house. Drive very carefully,” said Bohumil Malášek, spokesman for the South Moravian Police Department. Police have recorded over 50 accidents since this morning. The roads are blocked by stranded cars. “Before seven o’clock in the morning, a total of 8 vehicles collided in the village of Dubičné in the České Budějovice region. After eight o’clock, two buses collided between the villages of Dvory and Horouty in the Prachatice region,” a police spokeswoman stated. The road between Drnovice and Podomí in the Vyškov region is closed for trucks, while in the Breclav and Hodonín regions, road workers have warned of...
The Czech government on Wednesday approved the deployment of up to 150 soldiers to help Poland stop the flow of migrants seeking entry from Belarus, a crisis that the European Union has accused Minsk of engineering. The plan, subject to approval by parliament, would make the Czech Republic the third outside country to send personnel to the Poland-Belarus border, after fellow NATO members Estonia and Britain. “The government has just approved a mandate for sending troops to protect the Polish-Belarusian border,” Czech Defence Minister Lubomir Metnar said on Twitter. The Czech Republic is part of the Visegrad group of central European countries, which also includes Poland, Slovakia and Hungary. The group has taken a firm line on migration. Outgoing prime minister Andrej Babis pledged to keep migrants out as part of his October election campaign, while the new incoming government coalition has backed the plan to send troops to help Poland. The number of attempted crossings into Poland by migrants travelling via Belarus from the Middle East or Africa has fallen in recent days, with Poland’s Border Guard reporting 51 attempts on Tuesday, a fraction of the highs seen in mid-November when as many as 501 people tried to cross...
The statue of the famous Czech nobleman and Austrian field marshal Josef Radecký had once stood in the Lesser Town square from 1858 to 1919 when it was removed due to objections from Italian diplomats. Now, Prague 1, and many other supporters of the chief of the general staff in the Habsburg Monarchy late in the Napoleonic Wars, are supporting the return of Marshal Radecký. However, there is a lot of confusion about whether they will be able to reinstall it. Jan Bárta, chairman of the Radecký Association, which seeks to return the work back to Malá Strana, added that they need a clear yes or no answer from politicians regarding the status of the monument. Currently, the representatives of the association have spent approximately 62 thousand crowns on preparatory project work, and they have managed to collect about 400 thousand crowns in the public collection. There are now 1,700 signatures under the petition for the restoration of the work. The return of the statue of Marshal Radecký also has the support of the City Hall of Prague 1. “Marshal Radecký was one of our most important military figures and I do not hide that I am one of...
If your day doesn’t start until you’re up to speed on the latest headlines, then let us introduce you to our new morning fix. The Czech Republic has considerably improved its position in the implementation of the measures against money laundering and financing of terrorism, the Council of Europe’s (CE) anti-money laundering body MONEYVAL writes in its report released today. Some 88 percent of Czech doctors and 83 percent of nurses have been vaccinated against COVID, according to the data of the Institute of Health Information and Statistics (UZIS). The booster dose has been administered to 54 percent of doctors and 36 percent of nurses. The outgoing Czech government wants to deploy 150 Czech soldiers to help Poland patrol its border with Belarus, for a period of 180 days (roughly six months). Swift approval of the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine is being eyed by the Czech Republic. According to the government, protein-based vaccines such as Novavax could convince unvaccinated people to change their minds, as the currently used mRNA vaccines are often targets of massive disinformation campaigns. Nineteen percent of Czechs reject Covid-19 vaccination, with 14 percent fully determined not to get vaccinated, according to a November...
KAPRAIN Group, in cooperation with TNI Group and Plopsa, a renowned Belgian operator of thematic family parks, will soon open the largest indoor amusement park in the Czech Republic: Majaland Praha. Within the park’s 10,000 sqm area, there are great attractions for young children and their parents with the theme of Maya the Bee and Viki the Viking. All of this is under one roof and directly connected to the shopping center Premium Outlet Prague Airport. Majaland Praha will open its doors on December 27. Visitors will be able to experience 15 impressive attractions, including an indoor roller coaster, where you’ll be zipping through Viking Vic’s domain, a 30-metre slide with an elevation of nine meters, a tilting “butterfly” chair-swing with a 16-meter flight path, a simulated 10-metre free fall, and many more. In addition to these attractions, the all-day entertainment and popular animated film audiovisual experiences, visitors will also be able to relax and refresh in cafes, restaurants and kiosks. Tomáš Novák, the owner of the TNI Group: “Nowadays, you have to offer visitors something unique, for example, a combination of entertainment and shopping. The emphasis on experience has become a trend, and Plopsa knows everything about giving people...
Uber is launching a new ride option in Prague called Uber Pet, through which you can give drivers a heads up that you’re bringing your pet along. The surcharge corresponds to the cheapest UberX tariff increased by a one-time fee of 50 CZK. More than half of households have a pet at home, and according to statistics, there are about two million dogs and a million cats in Czech families. Uber Pet will help both riders and drivers avoid any unwanted surprises. It might give you peace of mind that a driver is happy to have a pet in their car and won’t cancel as soon as they see your dog or cat (or another animal). All drivers using the Uber application in Prague can decide whether activate or not the Uber Pet option. “Czechs are a nation of dog breeders and we have often heard from our users that they would greatly appreciate the possibility of transporting their animal companions. We decided to meet their needs and prepare a tailor-made service. In addition, the novelty is appreciated by the drivers themselves, who can better prepare for transporting pets,” describes Štěpán Šindelář, Uber’s operations manager for the Czech Republic. To...
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