Rotterdam mayor abseils down Euromast after turnout bet

Rotterdam Mayor Carola Schouten abseiled down the 185-metre-high Euromast on Thursday after promising before municipal elections that she would do so if turnout rose above the level recorded four years earlier.

Schouten had made the pledge before the March municipal elections. Turnout in Rotterdam rose to 40.7 percent, above the record low of 38.9 percent recorded in 2022.

Under cloudy skies and in blustery wind, Schouten descended the tower on a rope with an expert. The descent took just over 10 minutes. She landed to cheers from a small group of spectators and staff.

Schouten, 48, told AFP the first part was the hardest. She said she had trained beforehand with Dutch marines, who told her what to do, what to think about and not to look down.

In a video posted on Instagram before the vote, Schouten said she was prepared to do anything to help raise turnout. Asked whether that included abseiling down the Euromast, which its website describes as Europe's highest, she said she had a major fear of heights but would jump from the viewing platform 100 metres up if people voted.

After the descent, Schouten said she was not sure she would do it again and that it had not ended her fear of heights. She said she had wanted to draw attention to elections, democracy and the fact that for many people voting is not easy or may not seem useful. She described the stunt as fun but said the message behind it was serious.

Prime Minister Rob Jetten had also said he would abseil down the tower if national turnout rose, which it did. He was not able to join Schouten on Thursday because of scheduling conflicts, a spokesperson said, but will definitely do it once a date is found.

The source noted that Schouten is not the first mayor of a major city to attempt a high-wire public stunt. In 2012, London Mayor Boris Johnson was ridiculed after getting stuck on a zip wire during a celebration of Britain's first Olympic gold medal, with images of him dangling in the air spreading widely.