In Cyprus , I ask myself: why aren’t there any sunshades attached to flats, houses and windows in general ? In The Netherlands we have plenty of those in all kinds of colours: it helps to keep away direct sunlight, it helps to prevent a room / building from warming up and have too much bright light coming in. In Cyprus I have not seen those. While the heat is extreme and rooms are quickly heated to a 35C and higher. Obviously, Cypriots prefer switching on the AC and let the device do the hard work and rob their bank account. “Oh…we put up some curtains, that will do” type of thought. Something I will probably never understand. 

sunshades everywhere in Holland

Is it because they don’t know about proper sunshades? Is it they don’t know how to install them? Perhaps the concrete won’t hold? That’s another topic – haven’t seen proper concrete anywhere that lasts longer than one year. So yes, that could be part of the issue. Cracks appear everywhere and some parts of the road have been repaired a hundreds times while the same holes and cracks keep coming back.

Not a single sunshade in Oroklini village

Cyprus may seem very European ( at least on paper ) but when it comes to modern materials and standard facilities in general , they still have a long way to go. Honestly: they’re 20 years behind schedule. Tourism as their most important income source, I don’t think it will change soon. What a missed opportunity to become more ‘green’ and more aware and… to be able and fight the heat more efficient! Let me not mention where electricity comes from and how it is generated but file it under ‘not done’ and you’re very close.

I hope Cyprus will evolve faster from now on and is willing to learn from other countries regarding sun (heat) protection and implementing larger amounts of green energy. There’s more in life than sunshine & tourism! If you ask me, Sega, sega has not been very useful thus far.

TC – in Cyprus – July 2023