Protests during turmoil in Reykjavik, Iceland
Sunday, February 1st, 2009Probably the most high profile victim of the global financial crisis has been the small nation of Iceland. A week ago, its Prime Minister, Geir Haarde, resigned amidst mounting pressure, stemming from the failure of Iceland’s banking institutions and its now virtually non-existent currency, the krona. (The new Prime Minister, Johanna Sigurdardottir, is now the first openly lesbian head of government in Europe).
For a country that was ranked by the United Nations’ Human Development Index as the most developed country in the world (2007), the quick fall of Iceland’s once prosperous economy was shocking. And while elsewhere in the world this category of economic chaos might have led to a general collapse of society, the reaction of average Icelanders is not exactly what one might expect.
The protest at Austurvöllur (old town Reykjavik) on January 20th was photographed by Jóhann Þröstur Pálmason — check out some of his other work here.
Icelanders threw food at police in riot gear, at the house of parliament, and set the square’s christmas tree on fire:
