BREAKING NEWS

Hungarians take walking tour to overcome fears of Muslims

BUDAPEST, November 6 - A walking tour to learn about Budapest's Muslim community and its mosques has become popular with Hungarians as a way of overcoming fears and reservations amid a strident anti-immigrant campaign by the government.
Budapest-based tour operator Setamuhely (Budapest Walkshop) runs 30 different walks taking visitors around the city's architectural and cultural sites and the Jewish and Muslim communities.
"I can say that this walk, "Muslims who live among us," is the most popular tour," said Anna Lenard who runs the business. When the Muslim tour was set up three years ago very few people were interested.
"Most people have never met a Muslim in their life and this ... together with what they hear every day in the media causes a lot of tension and stress in daily life. I think this is the main reason why people are coming now."
Most of the people on the four-hour walk have a college degree, and two-thirds are women, she said.