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No one lived on Great Blasket for 70 years. Now couples can be island guardians for the summer. +++ Poland is offering discounted rent to people willing to renovate apartments in need of repairs.
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00:00Hello and a warm welcome to Focus on Europe. I'm Liz Scho. It's great to have you with us.
00:17In this special edition, we are taking a look at the people and places that caught our attention
00:21in 2025. Let's start with Camille and James. For the couple, a dream job came true this summer.
00:30They beat a fair number of hopeful applicants to become caretakers of a remote island off Ireland's
00:36coast. Life there is tough. No internet, no medical facilities and not even hot water. Yet the
00:43island's raw beauty makes the isolation worthwhile. Once abandoned by its former residents,
00:49this wild place has become an unexpected adventure for the young couple.
00:54Off Ireland's west coast, in the wild Atlantic Ocean, lies Great Blasket Island. Dramatic,
01:05beautiful and remote. But could you imagine spending six months on this uninhabited island?
01:12These newlyweds are doing just that, swapping modern life for the simple life.
01:17It kind of garners two different reactions from people. Some people will be like, oh,
01:22I could never do that. That's so not my thing. And other people are like, well, of course.
01:26And I think we're just like the of course kind of people.
01:2937-year-old artist James and creative Camille, 26, were chosen from hundreds of applicants to
01:36work as this year's island caretakers. No easy task in a place with no stable electricity,
01:42hot water or Wi-Fi. The job requirements are really just that you're going to be committed
01:47to working here every day for the six months, you know. You're kind of just prepared to get
01:50stuck into everything. Like there's various challenges, you know, get thrown at you living
01:54out here. So you just kind of have to react to everything and just have a good attitude.
01:58Several kilometres off the mainland, Great Blasket is one of the most westerly points in Europe.
02:04A special area of conservation, this unspoiled island is rich with wildlife.
02:08But don't let its white beaches and crystal blue waters fool you.
02:14Cut off from the mainland in extreme weather, it was abandoned in the 1950s.
02:19Its final Irish-speaking residence, now a symbol of Gaelic history and culture, forced to leave.
02:28Today, a couple is hired every summer to look after tourists on the hunt for adventure.
02:33You're very welcome to the Great Blasket Islands. My name is James and this is Camille,
02:36my wife. We're the caretakers of the island. We'll be looking after you for the next couple
02:40of days.
02:41James and Camille are busy from morning until night. They maintain a handful of holiday
02:46cottages.
02:47So there's two coal-burning stoves. There's one in here and there's one in the main living
02:51room there next door. There's a bucket of coal for each one and a kindling and fire starter.
02:55Hi, here are your teas.
02:56They also run a small cafe with modest supplies from the mainland, pumping water from a natural
03:03spring on the cliffside.
03:06As darkness sets in, as does the reality of life without creature comforts.
03:12When we first got here, I was looking for light switches on the walls. That's completely
03:16out of my habit now. I don't reach for it. I reach for my head torch, you know.
03:20But some things are harder to live without than others.
03:27Showers are lovely. I actually feel like I miss that so much I have to put it out of
03:32my mind and not think about it. We've come up with a lot of ways to make Ivor things though,
03:36you know, like collecting cold water and dunking drinks in it or trying to keep things cold
03:42in different ways.
03:42There's usually something you can do to kind of ameliorate the situation.
03:46As another clear day on the island dawns, tourists Kiva and Simon say their first night
03:53living off-grid went without a hitch.
03:56I find it really refreshing. I just love it. And you have time, time to read, time to talk.
04:03It's just something completely different, you know, just living by candlelight, away from
04:07the sort of things that you're used to at home and just have a bit more time and space,
04:11I guess.
04:11But this experience wouldn't be for everyone. Visits to the island stop when storms set in.
04:18The local wildlife, the only creatures able to freely come and go.
04:22But Camille and professional painter James are unfazed.
04:26Often seeking remote living and on the hunt for artistic inspiration, their new roles came
04:31as little surprise to family and friends.
04:33I don't think they would have expected that we get the job, but when we did, I think they
04:37were just kind of like, of course, they're going to go live on an island for six months.
04:39Any concerns about being far from emergency services are further still from their minds.
04:45You can really feel it on the island when you're the only people here. Like, it feels vast.
04:51Call it the naivety of being young, but I think we just thought we'd be fine.
04:56As they prepare to return to their lives on the mainland, they say island life's taught
05:01them to live in the moment, taking each day as it comes.
05:05Just sitting in the sand, letting the water, like, come up by my hips and just watching
05:09the seals and listening and feeling the wind. It's in those moments that I'm like, this
05:14is what I really want to remember and take back with me so I can tune back into that because
05:18it is an opportunity to slow down.
05:21Slowing down is something most of us dream of, but few able to truly experience.
05:28But thanks to its caretakers, visitors are able to enjoy the natural beauty of this unique
05:33island when the weather is willing.
05:36Would you pay tens of thousands to renovate a home that doesn't belong to you?
05:44In Poland, there's a long list of people signing up to do just that.
05:49It's part of an initiative launched by authorities to address a severe housing shortage.
05:54The crisis is acute in cities like Kielce and Krakow.
05:58Estimates say up to two million housing units are missing in Poland.
06:03For Anna Payak and her family, the scheme was well worth the investment, but demand for
06:09the program is already outpacing supply, leaving many out of luck.
06:15I'm Alexandra Skoura and I need a new apartment.
06:20Poland has a program to combat its housing shortage.
06:24Cheap rent in return for renovation.
06:26It must have been nice here once, years or more likely decades ago.
06:31But no matter, Alexandra is thrilled.
06:34She wants to rent this neglected apartment in the city of Kielce at half price and renovate
06:39it herself.
06:40Walls, floors, gas, water, electricity, almost everything needs work.
06:46But the 30-year-old pastry chef is optimistic.
06:49This place is frozen in time and I want to breathe new life into it.
06:55Evelina Jastrzewska from the city government accompanies Alexandra as she takes stock.
07:00She had no trouble finding a tenant.
07:02There are many more brave applicants than there are vacant departments.
07:09I believe that every tenant who takes on this challenge and participates in the program
07:13will succeed.
07:16I want to do most of it myself.
07:20But there is installation work that I don't want to tackle.
07:23Alexandra wants to invest even though it's a rental.
07:32These are rare here.
07:33Almost 90% of Poles own their homes.
07:40Krakow is Poland's second largest city.
07:43As in many Polish cities, apartment prices in Krakow have skyrocketed by around 30% in 2024.
07:55A new round of allocations is beginning today and applicants are lining up for an apartment
08:00in need of renovation.
08:01The program has been running for four years and it's still like a lottery.
08:05I have two small children and this is my last chance to change my living situation.
08:14This year, a total of 180 apartments are being offered in Krakow.
08:20This one, for example, has to be completely gutted.
08:24Everything needs to be replaced.
08:27Edita Pavluczek in Kielce shows us what it's like to renovate a rental apartment yourself.
08:32My name is Edita and I've waited for this apartment for 27 years.
08:39Given that, living with dust and cement for a few more months is no big deal.
08:43Did she know that the project would be so much work?
08:46No, but at some point it did dawn on me.
08:50The program is called Renovate to Rent, after all.
08:54She's invested around 70,000 euros in an apartment that she doesn't own
08:58and pays rent for on top of that.
09:00Although, much less than market value.
09:03The mayor calls it a win-win for the city and its residents.
09:08They live in them and of course they pay low rent.
09:12So these apartments serve both a financial and a social function for the city.
09:18The mayor's dispassionate analysis is one thing.
09:21But in this building, Anna Pajak has a very emotional relationship with the housing program.
09:26My name is Anna Pajak and this is my dream home.
09:33She's proud that she designed everything herself.
09:36She lives in her model apartment with her son, spider and dog.
09:41But the journey to her dream home began with a nightmare.
09:45The house had long been vacant and almost nothing could be salvaged.
09:48When I got the keys to the apartment, I went to church and prayed that I would have the strength to do all this.
10:00With or without divine help, the Polish model could set an example for many places where housing has become a luxury.
10:08To Portugal now, where artfully arranged cobblestones are paving places, streets and sidewalks.
10:18They are true works of art, giving towns a very unique look.
10:22Now, locals are debating whether Portugal should hold on to a tradition that is an eye-catcher and attracts visitors from all over the world,
10:31but is also impractical for some people.
10:34For Diogo Martins, these stones are a hindrance that can be dangerous and a challenge in his everyday life.
10:43Calçada Portuguesa is a Portuguese hallmark.
10:47Traditional paving, often with elaborate patterns.
10:52But walking on these cobblestones can be uncomfortable and even dangerous.
10:57Does this traditional craft still have a future?
11:00We asked around in Lisbon, the Portuguese capital.
11:04Hello, my name is Vitor, and I'm a paver, sadly one of the last here in Portugal.
11:16Although Vitor Graça is already 58, he only learned the craft of paving 10 years ago.
11:22Before that, he was a fishmonger and ran a restaurant.
11:25But Portuguese calçada fascinated him.
11:30Today, he's using small cobblestones to inscribe a church's consecration year.
11:35I saw how beautiful the mosaics were.
11:43And just like a great love starts small, it has grown stronger and stronger.
11:51And this love has never left my heart.
11:54Not all of Lisbon's residents share his passion.
12:02Diogo Martins has difficulty navigating the stones with his wheelchair.
12:06His wheels often slip on the uneven surface, worn smooth over the years, forcing him onto the road.
12:12You lose control and then you have to find out how to gain control again.
12:22In this situation, if I was not with another person that helped me, I would certainly get injured.
12:32And also, I have a situation where I broke my wheelchair.
12:36Diogo struggles with the cobbles, as does Mario Alves, from the International Federation of Pedestrians.
12:44They say the stones don't belong in a modern, accessible city.
12:50It is very dangerous.
12:52It is something that we know for decades now.
12:57Lisbon is a city with a very elderly population.
13:00If an elderly person breaks the leg, it can mean death after a few months.
13:08The mosaics are also a tourist attraction.
13:11And the Lisbon City Administration wants to preserve the calzada portuguesa.
13:18Focusing on good quality paving is safer, according to this training center where Vitor learned his trade.
13:24Teacher Nuno Serra says that fewer and fewer pavers care about craftsmanship.
13:36The more square meters a paver finishes in a day, the more money he earns.
13:42So he sets more stones, but the work is sloppy.
13:46If the paving is bad, it's because the pay is bad.
13:54Calzada portuguesa recently became a candidate for UNESCO cultural heritage status.
14:00Its proponents hope this will improve the image of the paving method and make it safer.
14:09People will see our paving work differently.
14:13And here in Portugal, it will make us work even harder to do the best work we can.
14:19But paving stones everywhere?
14:27Even in modern neighborhoods?
14:30Detractors Mario and Diogo believe that only the mosaics with artistic merit should be preserved.
14:36In 98% of the city, we have just normal sidewalks.
14:40They don't really belong to a certain heritage.
14:44If we preserve well where the calzada is needed to preserve, we can do much better than trying to disperse our efforts to do good calzada everywhere.
14:55Even Vitor would agree with that, as long as he can continue to do his dream job.
15:00Vitor is convinced that Lisbon, a city both modern and aware of its traditions, has room for both safe, modern sidewalks and the artistic, traditional calzada portuguesa.
15:28In Italy, prison conditions are in a poor state.
15:38Staff shortages, poor hygiene and, above all, severe overcrowding are the biggest problems.
15:44The country's prison population stands at a staggering 130%, one of the highest rates in Europe.
15:51But for Piero, daily life behind bars is very different, even though he's serving a long sentence.
15:58He's an inmate on an island some 30 kilometers off the Italian mainland.
16:04And beyond other unusual comforts, this view is part of his everyday routine.
16:09You arrive at the port, step off the boat, and suddenly you're not in handcuffs anymore.
16:24The relationship with the inmates here is based on respect.
16:28Guards and prisoners work closely together in many ways.
16:31Yeah, it's beautiful and all, but it's still a prison, a real prison.
16:40Gorgona, in central Italy, is the northernmost island of the Tuscan archipelago.
16:46And at a little more than two square kilometers, it is also the smallest.
16:49It's home to one of Europe's last prison islands, and is pretty different compared to prisons of the mainland.
16:57I spent five and a half years in two other prisons.
17:00Coming here, I felt almost free.
17:04Piero is one of 90 inmates here.
17:07He was sentenced to 20 years in prison, and came to the island two and a half years ago.
17:14Just to reach the courtyard, we had to unlock and lock 50 doors in the other facilities.
17:18You constantly hear the turning of keys.
17:22Here, they say, go to the administration yourself.
17:26Piero is spending his sentence working on the island's wine project, called Gorgona,
17:31created in cooperation with the Frescobaldi Winery.
17:34He has paid a regular wage for his labor.
17:37Every inmate is required to work.
17:39The island is self-sustaining.
17:43We're taking a lunch break before going up to the wine cellar.
17:48We're housed in that building over there.
17:52Murderers, thieves, drug dealers, all serving time here.
17:57I've been here for four months, and I have another eight years to go.
18:01I like it here in Gorgona.
18:08It's much better than other prisons.
18:12For Piero and his team, it's off to the wine cellar.
18:15But the inmates are never far from one of the 24 unarmed guards.
18:19It makes a huge difference.
18:25The relationship with the inmates is based on trust, not friendship,
18:28though friendships between guards and prisoners can develop.
18:35We're told the last attempted escape was in the 1980s.
18:39Getting a place on the island is tough, the prison warden explains.
18:49A prisoner who comes here is carefully selected.
18:53We make sure they're not addicted to substances or violent,
18:57and therefore capable of living on the island.
18:59A long sentence doesn't reduce chances of being transferred here.
19:04In fact, it often favors it.
19:06The rate of re-offending here is very low.
19:12At 23, Wakar is Gorgona's youngest inmate.
19:16For nine months now, he's been caring for animals here.
19:21The truth is, time has flown by here.
19:24It's not like a closed security prison,
19:26where time stands still because you have nothing to do.
19:29The first thing we do every morning is feed the animals.
19:38We have goats, sheep, cows.
19:40That cow over there is sick, so we'll tend to her first.
19:48Every prisoner on Gorgona undertakes an apprenticeship.
19:52The work is designed to help inmates regain confidence
19:55and take on responsibility.
19:59I've been doing this job for nine months, and I love it.
20:04I'll do this work from the first day to the last.
20:08When I'm released, I want to become a blacksmith.
20:11After work, the men decide for themselves how to spend their free time.
20:21They can play music, go to the gym, or play foosball.
20:26They're only locked up in the evenings,
20:27a stark contrast from their previous facilities.
20:33Italy's prisons are overcrowded and conditions are poor.
20:35In 2024 alone, 91 inmates took their own lives.
20:42There's no comparison.
20:44The island is a completely different world.
20:46There should be more places like this.
20:51Even so, Gorgona is still a prison.
20:54As beautiful as the island is,
20:58the men here still don't have the most important thing,
21:00their freedom.
21:05Gorgona, the island of prisoners,
21:07is still a crucial first step toward a better future.
21:10At a certain point in life,
21:14it can be hard to go out and do the things you once loved,
21:18especially if you're living with dementia.
21:20That's also true for some elderly residents
21:23at an assisted living facility here in Germany.
21:26But what if you could bring some of those experiences
21:29back to where they live now?
21:32That's what happened in the city of Duisburg,
21:35a one-of-a-kind pub designed to help residents
21:38reconnect with memories of the past.
21:43In this pub, there's nothing unusual
21:45about the merry atmosphere,
21:47the retro decor or the refreshments.
21:49But there is one thing.
21:51The Rheinterschen happens to be inside a care home,
21:54catering to residents with severe dementia.
21:58What's special is that it brings people out of their shells.
22:01They sit there and laugh.
22:03Laughing and having fun,
22:05those are the most important things in life.
22:08For dementia patients like Christel Pieters,
22:11familiarity can be a fleetingly rare feeling.
22:15But this pub at the St. Nikolaus care home in Duisburg
22:18creates an environment that the patients recognize from bygone days.
22:22The old-school interior,
22:24the antique penny slot machine
22:25and the paraphernalia from the local football club
22:28are all part of what helps them feel at home.
22:32MSV.
22:33They were our team.
22:34Above all, though, there's the music,
22:37a selection of tunes from the days of the residents' youth.
22:40And there's nothing like a much-loved melody
22:42to help unearth some memories.
22:44MSV.
22:44It's always remarkable when people who barely speak
22:54join in and sing old songs,
22:57when they remember the words,
22:59and the music brings back memories and emotions.
23:02Maybe the song reminds them of a particular place or occasion.
23:06Or maybe they just sing because all of a sudden
23:08the words come flooding back and their heart is touched.
23:11Dementia is a degenerative condition
23:14that affects patients' memories,
23:16their powers of reason and recognition.
23:19In 2025, it's estimated that 1.8 million people in Germany
23:23have some form of the disease.
23:25That number is expected to rise to up to 2.8 million by 2050.
23:31That's not a nice picture of me.
23:33That's not you.
23:35Thank God.
23:36Moments of minor confusion are part of living with dementia.
23:40So, too, are more fundamental failures of cognition
23:44or total erasures of memory.
23:46She has a daughter, but she doesn't remember her.
23:51Sometimes when she comes to visit, she doesn't recognize her.
23:55She had a great day today, but that can change at any time.
24:00By now, she's probably already forgotten
24:02that she was in there having such a great time.
24:04As well as brightening up the patient's days,
24:08the pub offers a spot of relief for the staff.
24:11Tina Baumgart has barely been off her feet all morning,
24:14fetching alcohol-free beer for one resident,
24:17soft drinks for others
24:18and the odd eggnog for Christel Peters.
24:20But in her job, landlord duties are a breeze.
24:23We nurses all think it's great.
24:30Let's be honest.
24:32If I'm in there with five, six, seven or eight people,
24:36then I don't have to run around all over the place
24:40making sure no one's doing anything silly.
24:43I'm having fun.
24:44You walk in, and you're immediately in conversation.
24:51A few others are sitting there, and it feels cozy.
24:55Here, I'm sitting in a corridor.
24:57There, I'm sitting in a pub.
24:59And where is it nicer?
25:01In a pub, of course.
25:04As the population ages, creative ways to cope
25:07will become ever more important.
25:10Just like the Sankt-Nikolaus' on-site social hub,
25:13the care home's very own pub.
25:20This pub certainly is a place
25:22that helps everyone feel at home.
25:25And that's all from our special edition
25:26of Focus on Europe.
25:28You can always look up all our stories
25:30on our website at dw.com
25:32or join us on social media.
25:36On behalf of the whole team,
25:37we wish you all a happy new year.
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