Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
At the same time a controversial tax imposed on media advertising revenues just weeks
after the election had some newspapers printing blank front pages and TV stations suspend-
ing evening broadcasting for up to 15 minutes.
Economic Ups & Downs
And then there's the economy, stupid. Though the number has almost halved in five years,
about 15% of all outstanding mortgages remain in foreign currencies (largely Swiss francs),
costing a fortune in forint to repay. And unemployment, though lower in the capital, aver-
ages 10% of the workforce nationwide. Encouragingly, GDP growth has accelerated, but the
experts tell us that the key driver there is public-sector activities - job schemes, public
works etc. As we all know, these usually doesn't last forever.
On the Move
The city's transport options are definitely improving. The Bubi bike-sharing scheme was
launched in 2014, and taxis no longer cost an arm and a leg (and the threat of a broken
nose). Though it was expensive to build - it cost €1.5 billion, roughly 1.5% of Hungary's
annual GDP - the long-awaited M4 metro line has opened at last.
The city also looks great, with newly pedestrianised streets planted with lime trees and a
made-over Kossuth Lajos tér providing a dramatic new stage for the beloved Parliament
building.
It may not be the Garden of Eden (yet), but it's getting there. Just don't tell Budapesters.
A lot of them wouldn't be able to handle the good news.
Best on Film
Kontroll
(2003) A dark, high-speed comic thriller set almost entirely in the Budapest metro
in which assorted outcasts, lovers and dreamers commune.
Moszkva tér
(Moscow Square; 2001) Comic tale of Buda teenage boys in 1989 oblivious to
the life-changing events taking place around them.
Children of Glory
(Szabadság, Szerelem; 2006) The 1956 Uprising in Budapest through
the eyes of a player on the Olympic water-polo team.
The Grand Budapest Hotel
(2014) 'Budapest' in name only (it was filmed in Germany),
but the setting for this silly film was inspired by the Danubius Hotel Gellért.
