On September 21 the first Bulgarian pensioners were send on vacation on government money. The idea was announced less than 3 weeks earlier and suggested sending a thousand pensioners at sea or in the mountains using the 2008 budget surplus which is expected to reach about 6 billion leva by the end of the year.

The Bulgarian National Television showed sweet images of elderly Bulgarians in front of the buses, waiting to leave for Bulgaria’s biggest sea resort ‘Sunny Beach’. Their total number this year is 713 and they will stay at their hotels for ten days. Another 330 pensioners have decided to spend their holiday at Pamporovo in Rhodopa Mountains. They are supposed to leave on October 15.

All of the pensioners come from retirement homes. Bulgaria’s Social and Labour Minister Emilia Maslarova said that some people had never been on a holiday and it would’ve been a nice gesture on the Government’s hand to send them on one. She also noted that this is a common practice in many countries.