If your experience of Iceland has thus far been limited to buying party packs of sausage rolls in Fuengirola, you’ll be delighted to know that, from this weekend, you will now have the option of heading down to Malaga Airport and hopping on a direct flight to the actual country. The new route will be available from 6 September and it’s very exciting.
Anyway, I thought you might like some fun facts about the country to help you enjoy your stay should you decide to zip over. If you’re like me, rather shamefully your Icelandic general knowledge might have been hitherto limited to the pop singer Björk. Let’s put that right.
The first interesting point to note about Iceland is that it has no mosquitos at all. So, if you want to avoid a disturbing high-pitched noise in your ear while on your holiday, it’s the perfect place to go. As long as Björk isn’t in town, of course. The total population of Iceland is about 20,000. Well, it is if we’re talking about cats (it’s actually home to around 400 000 people). One study has estimated that there is one feline for every 10 people in the Greater Reykjavik area. This may or may not be connected to the national dish which is fermented shark. On the other hand, it could also be the fact that dogs were banned from the country from 1924 to 1984, thus precluding any cartoon-style animal antics. It’s also a magnificent fact that, in Iceland, you can swim in hot springs all year round with the added bonus of possibly catching the northern lights in winter. Calm down, please, gentlemen – we can hear the rustle of myriad Speedos being packed from here.
Furthermore, such is the atmospheric majesty of the Icelandic landscape, a 2022 survey suggested that nearly half of the population believe in the country’s indigenous elves, or Huldufolk (hidden folk) – supernatural beings that live all around in nature. Indeed, some folk tales warn against throwing stones in the countryside for fear that it may endanger the Huldufolk. It has to be said, though, that many commentators believe this warning to be just another example of elf and safety gone mad. Finally, there’s a fascinating reason Frank Zappa, Elon Musk, Beyoncé and Jay-Z have never chosen to live in Iceland. It’s because they wouldn’t have been allowed to name their children things like Moon Unit, Dweezil, Strider, Techno, Blue Ivy or Sir because baby names over there are ultimately approved and decided by a national committee. As a consequence, the most popular children’s names are Ana and Jon which, I can tell you, mean Anna and John. Third and fourth on the list are Guðrun and Sigurður neither of which I have a translation for but I think it’s safe to say they don’t mean Moon Unit or Dweezil.
Well, I must say, all of this has rather whet my appetite for the country as whole, if not necessarily for the fermented shark. Or, let’s be honest, Björk.