Thessaloniki: Saying goodbye in 2024 with the traffic cop in the barrel, in the White Tower

With the traffic officer in the barrel, at its most iconic point, the White Tower, farewells this year the Directorate . Since Tuesday morning (31.12.2024), in the special podium used in the previous decades by persons of Thessaloniki traffic to regulate traffic, men and women of the service have risen up, reviving this practice. CORVERSE As explained in the Athens/Macedonian News Agency by the director of Thessaloniki Traffic, Friday Paraskefopoulou, today’s event is a custom, a revival that existed about half a century ago, when the traffic officials were climbing the podium and regulating traffic. “In the past, people went to the places where traffic was and spontaneously offered everyone what they wanted, from a jar of jam to detergents and wines, recognizing their offer,” said Mrs. Paraskevopoulou, stressing that on today pedestrian traffic officials are honored because they are with all the difficult weather conditions on the road to facilitate traffic and offer their services. “We are here to support the work carried out in the city and all police officers who care day and night for the security of citizens,” said Lieutenant General Christos Bulumbasis, general police inspector of northern Greece. CORVERSE For his part, Giannis Papageorgiou, Prime Minister’s office coordinator in Thessaloniki, thanked traffic and police for everything he offers to the city, while wishes for a good year were addressed by MPs and bodies, who even offered symbolic gifts to traffic, leaving them on the traffic podium, as was done in previous years by ordinary citizens. Wishes for health, power, “for a city that is sustainable, bright, green, but above all a city with confidence”, the mayor of Thessaloniki, Stelios Angeloudis, addressed.