Sweden: Influencer couple offers up eco-holiday resort-and leaves 150 barrels with faeces | EUROtoday

They realized their lifelong house – and 1000’s of individuals couldn’t get sufficient of the images and movies from the Swedish province: The Danes Flemming Hansen and Mette Helbæk function a really profitable account on Instagram on which they documented and operated a vacation village with an ecological contact.

The idea of the village of Stedsan included 16 rental picket homes, a restaurant and a farm, all in the midst of the forest and on a lake. But since March 2025 it has ended that her mission is bancrupt, the couple writes on his weblog. The causes for the failure are numerous, in a posting on Instagram, excessive excellent, the tax burden in Sweden and the burden of native paperwork are known as.

This ended a protracted -term wrestle, as Hansen and Helbæk admit. “We have invested all our resources – money, time and trust – to continue Stedsans, our life’s work and our only source of income. We always felt so close. We always found new solutions. We sold our car, rented the prices, fitted the concept and borrowed money from people from our environment,” it says.

Until the top, there have been discussions with a number of potential traders, however apparently there was no answer, the couple writes: “But one door after the other closed. Until the end, we thought we had found a way to at least offer our future guests what they had paid for.”

High tax money owed, supposedly died animals on web site

So surprisingly, this got here from Stedsans that native media additionally adopted the subject – and that quite a few inconsistencies found. The newspapers “Dagens Nyheter” and “Politics” discovered, for instance, that the couple had ready a spot of residence overseas months earlier than the official closure. In the meantime, the couple lives in Latin America with their 4 youngsters, extra exactly in Guatemala. Back, the ecoption not solely left open liabilities, but additionally lots of rubbish. Photos from a hen’s eye view, which must be taken by Stedsans, present greater than 150 steel barrels which have been deposited within the forest. They are alleged to be full with faeces.

Otherwise, the surroundings was in all probability not protected because it sounded: waste water is alleged to have been illegally derived, additionally into the forest. According to media reviews, the operators additionally left animals behind, in keeping with former workers, a few of them had since died.

An accusation that Hansen denied the Swedish journalists. In his assertion, he additionally insulted the Swedish tax authority as a “narcissistic being”, to which he owe “millions” of Swedish crowns. Incidentally, there are additionally being and the lifetime of his household, he factors out, much more: He and his spouse at the moment are “convicted of a life in poverty”. During the previous yr and a half wherein Stedsans has already been within the disaster, the household has already paid off. One now lives from grants from kin, in keeping with the subject within the weblog submit of the previous entrepreneurs.

In the articles of the Swedish media, official workers even have their say. They draw a bitter conclusion, even “environmental crime”. “Dagens Nyheter” quoted Daniel Helsing, head of the Hylte district and environmental authority, with the phrases: “Voilà. Over 150 barrels with human shit.”

According to the media reviews – the “Guardian” additionally took up the subject – there may be now additionally a steadiness of tax money owed: the equal of 500,000 euros (six million Swedish crowns) are to owe each the Swedish tax authorities. In their weblog and Instagram postings, the couple speaks of a “witch hunt”, “lies, rumors and false allegations”. In addition, they’d obtain threats to concrete requires homicide, Hansen and Helbæk complain.

Nevertheless, the couple additionally has an formidable plan for Guatemala

The entrepreneur couple feedback on the explanations for his or her failure of their weblog and the steadiness is bitter. Stedsans “had no real chance from the start,” they complain there. “We had to prevail against a system that does not seem to be interested in real sustainability (…). We hear this story again and again from colleagues and changemakers: the system makes changes almost impossible. So many promises from the bureaucrats were broken, which delayed our plans and made much more expensive than expected.”

In addition, Corona pandemic and the break-in of world tourism got here, but additionally private disappointments within the personal surroundings, for instance from individuals who had been trusted and in addition given cash. Her conclusion: “Although we lived in a fairytale forest and our best deeds to fill our life with magic and beautiful moments, it sometimes felt more like a bad dream.”

But after all the couple, who nonetheless has over 76,000 followers on Instagram, don’t wish to quit. According to the “Guardian”, the Danes of their new dwelling Guatemala now dwell once more on a lake, the Lago de Atitlán. And you have already got new plans: you wish to open a resort there.