Almere is to spend €1.5m promoting itself as European City of Culture for 2018, reports Wednesday’s Telegraaf.

Although the announcement was made by local interest party Leefbare Almere councillor Nico van Duijn, he told the paper that using so much money for such a project is ‘ridiculous’.
‘We can’t afford a new swimming pool but there’s money for this,’ he said. He went on to say the mission is futile because Almere will be competing with The Hague, Maastricht and Utrecht for the nomination.
But Marcel Kolder of the project group Almere 2018 rejects the criticism. He agrees the town needs a theatre and museum, but says Almere can offer a lot of cultural talent. ‘We have culture, it’s just a different kind,’ he told the paper.
Nominations for European City of Culture take place in 2013.