The week in Sweden: Goats, Christmas and tax reforms

I hope you're having a lovely week. For me, it's been full of pickled herring, pickled herring and pickled herring. My home smells of pickled herring, my mouth tastes of pickled herring and I'm pretty sure I'm turning into a fish.

What can I say? It's Swedish tradition.

There's bad news and good news from the town of Gävle. Bad news, because a straw yule goat was set on fire last night. Good news, because its larger and more famous sibling survived its third consecutive Christmas. If you know anything about the background, you will know that it's a pretty big deal.

How well do you remember 2019? Take The Local's quiz to test your knowledge (confession: I got one question wrong, but I won't reveal which one…).

Oh, and do you know what these 35 new Swedish words mean?

The year is almost over, and we have already started planning 2020. Here's The Local's guide to how to have the perfect year in Sweden, month by month.

But it's not completely over, and if you're still trying to figure out what to do this New Year's Eve, here's our guide to the best spots to ring in the new year.

Several tax reforms are set to come into effect in 2020, and they will affect a lot of different people in Sweden. Here's what you need to know about the changes.

As always, you can read much more on www.thelocal.se. As for me, I'll be back with the next newsletter for you on Monday. Have a great weekend!

• JOIN US: Become a Member and get unlimited access to The Local today

Thanks for reading,

Emma Löfgren
[email protected]
Editor, The Local Sweden