If it was a surprise to see Iceland pluckily elbowing its way into the vanguard of the international banking boom, it certainly wasn’t to discover that almost every Icelander had a hefty personal stake in their country’s dizzy financial adventure. They crested that high-interest wave together, and when it broke, they were all dashed on the rocks.

Reykjavik is home to nearly two-thirds of Iceland’s population, and the city sponged up the gold and the glory in the boom years. But walking between the faceless glass blocks that shot up along the seafront, dwarfing the homely old townhouses behind, you had the strange sense of watching a city sell its soul. Volvo estates were outnumbered by black Range Rovers. The red-cheeked, neighbourly Legoland vibe that had defined the place was giving way to something flash and faintly sinister.

From the Observer

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