News

Sep 30, 2023

Croatia is the latest holiday hotspot to crack down on rowdy tourists with fines of up to €4,000

The Croatian city of Split is the latest European tourist hotspot to crack down

The Croatian city of Split is the latest European tourist hotspot to crack down on rowdy visitors with fines for anti-social behaviour.

New measures were voted in by city councillors last month and police in the city are now able to issue fines of between £130 and £260 for drinking, sleeping, vomiting or urinating in public places.

Drinking within 100 metres of a school or nursery will lead to a similar fine, as will climbing on public monuments or into fountains.

The first fines were issued to 13 tourists at the start of June.

UK visitors are one of Split's second-largest tourist markets and locals have cited bad behaviour by British tourists.

In a letter to Split's authorities last August, Get GetGetanima wrote: "The terror which we are exposed to from individual tourists and from those who provide them with these services is unacceptable. We consider the behavior of intoxicated individuals absolutely unacceptable. Urinating and vomiting are no longer sporadic events.

"We are also covered in garbage and exposed to noise and crowds. We remind you that the city district Grad is exactly what its name says: a city district, inhabited by exhausted tenants who do not live on tourism."

The organisation describes itself as "a group of native Split residents who live in Diocletian's Palace, a Unesco protected monument, and in the old city centre of Split." The group's private Facebook page has 1,600 members.

A public Facebook page aimed at Split locals, called "GetDirekt" regularly posts videos of anti-social behaviour on Split's streets and beneath these are comments such as: "Split market is the site of nightly rampage of British tourists. Screaming, shouting, breaking bottles, urinating.

"Local residents are at the end of their tether; they want to take things into their own hands. We are asking authorities to take action and patrol the streets after 11pm."

Bojan Ivošević, Split's deputy mayor, said of the new rules: "We want to rebrand Split, we want to change the type of guest who comes to our town. We want to come off the list of highly desirable party destinations and start attracting families or individuals who enjoy our city, enjoy the beauty of the sea, and who won't just go crazy in Split."

If Split, with its population of around 178,000, is struggling to cope with rowdy holidaymakers, this is more pronounced in other smaller towns and villages along the coast.

Tisno, a small town northwest of Split, is the host of The Garden Festival, a series of music events that runs through July and August.

Marko, a local taxi driver, said: "Initially, when British tourists started arriving in Tisno, the locals were rubbing their hands because they could rent out even the dinkiest basement for a ludicrous amount of money. They could charge the Brits more than they could the Germans or the Italians because British tourists never complained.

"But later they coined the phrase: Where a Brit goes, the grass doesn't grow. All that extra money they made had to be spent on buying new beds to replace the ones damaged by party goers, or on repainting walls."

A spokesperson for the Tourist Board of Split told i: "The introduction of fines for anti-social behaviour in Split is not the result of more British tourists coming to Split in recent years."

They added: "We believe that the implementation of this decision will change the profile of guests who come to our city, as well as attract families with children and individuals motivated by culture, gastronomy, sports, recreation and work, who want to enjoy our city and admire its beauty."

Other parts of Croatia have brought in similar measures to curb tourism-related problems.

This week the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office updated its advice for travel to Croatia.

Its guidance reads: "In some Croatian town centres, authorities may issue on the spot fines for behaviour which is locally considered inappropriate.

"You can also be fined up to €4,000 for actions considered to be disturbances to public order. These include fighting, verbal abuse and drunken behaviour.

"Most towns have signage to advise about actions that are prohibited by local law. Take notice of your surroundings, including signage, and seek local advice. Drug related offences are punishable with fines and jail sentences."

As well as behaviour related to alcohol consumption, visitors could be fined for walking through towns shirtless or in swimwear and "wearing clothing that promotes drug use".

Croatia saw annual overnight stays by UK travellers grow from almost 3.3 million in 2016 to 4.6 million in 2019 (the last full restriction-free year of travel from the UK since the Covid pandemic).

Tourist taxes have been used to counteract the negative impact of climbing visitor numbers in certain areas of the country. These levies are typically charged to accommodation providers and cruise ship operators which in turn pass them on to customers.

The city of Dubrovnik, a Unesco world heritage site and one of the main filming locations for the TV series Game of Thrones, became an overtourism hotspot before the pandemic and has sought to limit the number of cruise ship arrivals.

The decision doesn't seem to faze Britons travelling to Croatia. Arthur Sartin, a 23-year old from Sussex, says he welcomes the decision. "I have been on holiday to Croatia several times and partied in Split, Dubrovnik and a few places in between. You could see all sorts of things going on.

"If you lined up a British tourist, a German and an Italian, you would be in no doubt who was from Britain. British tourists had some really bad habits. For me, the new rules are a good thing. I would be happier going to Croatia knowing that they are in place than without them."

Among the other European holiday destinations that have brought in measures to curb behaviour typically attributed to tourists is Amsterdam.

A campaign launched by the city's council in March was initially aimed at male tourists from the UK aged between 18 and 35. Online adverts highlighted the risks associated with excessive drinking and drug use in the city.

In April, it was announced that Portofino on the Italian Riviera would introduce fines of €275 for people who lingered too long beauty spots. The rule applies until 6pm each day between Easter and October 15.

Localised rules in Spain include limits on the sale and availability of alcohol in designated areas within some resorts in Mallorca and Ibiza. In some parts of the country, wearing swimwear or going bare-chested in the street is banned and local councils will impose fines on those doing so.