Dubrovnik - Croatia >>> BLOG

ZAGREB, Croatia, Nov 22 (IPS) - The approaching winter brings with it the high season for the fairly new business of property sale on the picturesque Adriatic coast. Tempting for foreigners, troubling for local people. Sale of property on the 1,000km coast and about 1,180 islands has risen rapidly over the past five years, the Croatian Chamber of Commerce says. The buyers are exclusively foreigners.
The sale is helping rebuild the economy of this nation of 4.5 million after the devastating war for independence in the 90s.
The prices of villas, and even devastated homes have risen an average 10 percent a year. The going price at present is between 2,500and 7,000 dollars per square metre of living space.
"The most wanted location remains Dubrovnik," Dubravko Ranilovic, head of the real estate department of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce told IPS on phone. "There are wealthy people who do not ask the price, and pay whatever they are asked to. However, this is a limited market, and trends are hard to foresee, as there's little new construction in the region."
Dubrovnik, the mediaeval town on the far southeastern tip of the coast, is known as the 'pearl of the Adriatic'. It has been the most popular target for tourists for decades.
The old town, with cobbled streets and ancient little houses, is bordered by a fortress protruding into the sea. The price of property within the town reaches 7,000 dollars a square metre. Outside the walls, it is about 4,000 dollars.
"Buying property here is a fantastic investment, as the prices in Dubrovnik have doubled in just two years," Goran Pikunic from the local property agency Aedio told IPS. Almost 2,000 houses and flats were sold in Dubrovnik in 2004. Most buyers were British, Irish and Russians.
The central town Split on the Dalmatian part of the coast has also become popular with buyers. It is the point for ferry transport to faraway outlets.
Foreign real estate companies have now been allowed to open offices in Split. One of their first successful sales was an ancient villa on the tiny island of Ciovo for 800,000 dollars.
"The targets are the islands, particularly Hvar and its archipelago," says Medenka Vidovic from the estate agency Cvjetni Dom (Flower Home).
Hvar, which also has a medieval fortress and cobbled streets, remains the second most popular vacation spot after Dubrovnik. Its group of seven Hell Islands so named after shipwrecks in the ancient past are now a treasure of the Dalmatian coast.
One of its islands, Pelegrin, was proposed to be leased to an Italian consortium on condition it invests 350 million dollars for six new hotels.
But although tourism is the strongest part of the Croatian economy, bringing up to seven billion dollars a year, the Pelegrin sale proposal brought public outrage. It is on hold for the time being.
"It seems we are now turning beauty into the beast with such sales," Hvar resident Niko Miksic told IPS. "Who will remember we had wild, untamed nature here after giant hotels overrun the coast. Besides, it looks like we are selling to foreigners the last thing we have - our coast."
The Croatian transition into a market economy was marked by the emergence of war profiteers under the late president Franjo Tudjman, who died in 1999.
Since then, Croatia has been slowly recovering from the shock of the 'one kuna (local currency) privatisation' under which people close to the regime bought profitable factories and firms for a symbolic sum of one kuna. Most of them are now business tycoons.
The growing sales on the coast, and the fantastic prices often quoted by the local media have brought property issues into focus. A survey by the Vecernji List newspaper and the real estate agency Infonekretnine showed that 74 percent of interviewees opposed further sale of coastal homes to foreigners.
Economists say the skyrocketing prices of real estate influence the price of new homes in inland Croatia as well, particularly affecting first home buyers.
"Young couples are becoming losers, because in some continental areas prices are now almost double of what they were a couple of years ago. This followed the coastal trend," Vecernji List wrote.
Despite the public outcry and the effect on local property, real estate agents seem happy. Among their customers they name former French culture minister Jacques Lang, former top international official in Bosnia Wolfgang Petritsch, and United Nations representative in the region Carl Bildt.
They expect prices to double once Croatia joins the European Union by the end of the decade. (END/2005)

Posted by Tomi at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Have you already thought about your New Year's Eve destination...?
Dubrovnik citizens and their numerous guests from all over Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, and other European countries celebrated New Year's Eve magnificently in two different areas – on Stradun - Old Town and in Babin Kuk. Celebrate New Year's Eve in Dubrovnik
What made Stradun and Babin Kuk especially interesting this year was the fact that there was something on the program each day of the entire week, either in the morning or in the evening. Dubrovnik---Dubrovnik gives visitors the feeling that they are stepping back in time into a pedestrian-only walled city.
It is easy to become lost in the history and medieval architecture while enjoying Old Town.
As already announced, the Brešković Brothers, the vocal group “Subrenum”, the Mariachi Los Caballeros performed on Stradun, and the well-known Dubrovnik DJ Vjerovica led the program. Da Riva, the group “E.T.”, and Colonija gave an outdoor performance on Mali Stradun in Babin Kuk, led by the moderator Željko Pervan.
Sterling Cup Dubrovnik New Year's Regatta 7 Day / 6 Night Tour & Race Dubrovnik, Croatia . December 27, 2005 - January 2, 2006
The first annual Sterling Cup Dubrovnik New Year's Regatta is open to club yachts or charter boats. It takes place in the waters around Dubrovnik, combining the competitive scoring of Olympic Round-the-Cans course with the enjoyment of coastal passage races to surrounding islands. Awards up to K10,000 and cruising holidays are reserved for the winners.
The actual races will take place on the 28th, 29th, and 30th of December but there is entire week of sightseeing, unique dining experiences with classical local wines, music, parties, awards and much more.
There will be something for every person , whether they are sailing, watching or simply enjoying area activities.
The race is organized by Orsan Yacht Club (OYC) of Dubrovnik, established in 1933, under the auspices of the Croatian Sailing Federation.
Orsan YC has extensive experience in staging international events and is responsible for registrations, classes, starting procedures, course rules, finishing procedures, protests, etc. and will be assisted by a panel of qualified judges.
Sterling Vacations, who principal is a past international sailing champion, is sponsor of the Sterling Sailing Team and co-organizer of this event.

Posted by Tomi at 09:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

LUXEMBOURG (AP) -- The European Union agreed Monday to open membership talks with Croatia after Carla Del Ponte, the U.N. chief prosecutor, gave assurances the government in Zagreb was now cooperating fully in efforts to bring a war crimes suspect to trial... Croatia soon in EU
EU agrees to open Croatia talks
The EU froze talks with Croatia in March for not cooperating with the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, which had indicted former Croat Gen. Ante Gotovina for atrocities against Serbs. In a statement, EU foreign ministers said they were ready to begin entry talks now that "Croatia had met the outstanding condition for the start of accession negotiations."
"Yes, it is the first time we are saying it's full cooperation," Del Ponte said. She delivered her positive report to EU foreign ministers, who were holding a review of Croatia's stalled membership bid on the sidelines of crisis talks aiming to start entry talks with Turkey. "In the light of the above, I can say that for a few weeks now, Croatia has been cooperating fully with us and is doing everything it can to locate and arrest (war crimes suspect Gen.) Ante Gotovina," Del Ponte said in her report. "If Croatia continues to work with the same resolve and intensity, I am confident that he can be transferred to The Hague soon."
The EU froze talks with Croatia in March, demanding Zagreb fully cooperate with the tribunal in handing over Gotovina, who has been on the run since a mid-2001 indictment for wartime atrocities against Serbs. Croatia's Prime Minister Ivo Sanader also held separate talks with EU officials, and said ahead of his meeting that he was confident the EU would soon restart membership talks.
Del Ponte said her positive report was "based on over 130 reports that my office received this year from the Croatian agencies involved in the tracking of Ante Gotovina, on the nearly daily communications between my office and the Croatian state attorney Mladen Bajic and on other contacts with Croatian and international sources." She refused to say, however, whether she fully supported demands by Austria that Croatia's membership bid be put back on track. "I'm not entering political decisions, I am just a prosecutor," Del Ponte said.
Her report outlined that in the first half of this year, "serious weaknesses were found in the functioning of Croatian intelligence services," adding there were "leaks of sensitive information to the media." But Del Ponte said that since May, "performance of the relevant services has significantly improved." She said "according to sources outside of the Croatian government, Gotovina is in Croatia or in Bosnia Herzegovina and there are indications that he may hide in a Franciscan monastery."
Sanader insists Gotovina has fled the country long ago, but has still stepped up a public hunt for him this year, aiming to convince the EU that it is serious in trying to hand him over to the tribunal.
President Stipe Mesic said he believes that Croatia could join the EU in 2008 but warned that hard work was still to be done... "We should not be euphoric. We have to understand that it is the first important step. Now we have to work..." he told

Posted by Tomi at 09:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

To broaden tourism possibilities and to illuminate the maritime history of Dubrovnik, the travel agency “Navicula” has undertaken the complex task of building a replica of an historic karaka, a very important kind of trading vessel for the Republic of Dubrovnik (1272. - 1808).... The new Karaka will sail in and around Dubrovnik waters, evoking the rich Dubrovnik maritime history by taking tourists out for daily excursions and for occasional special events. More info at: http://www.karaka.info
Since no maps or blueprints of an original karaka exist, the reconstruction of Karaka was a challenge.
Much information was gathered from assorted descriptions and pictures found at the Dubrovnik Maritime Museum.
According to information there, in the early 15th century karakas were the largest ships in the Adriatic Sea, and in the 16th century they were some of the largest vessels in the world.
During the 16th century, when the Dubrovnik Republic was at its peak, its shipbuilding industry produced almost 200 ships for the seas of the worlds.
Citizens of Dubrovnik had earned a reputation as very distinguished builders of great karaka and galleon ships.
That’s why the name “Argosy” (derived from Ragusa, as Dubrovnik was formerly known) became a synonym for a great trading ship, likely referring specifically to a karaka ship. It is even mentioned by Shakespeare in his play “The Merchant of Venice”.
Between the 14th and 17th centuries, a karaka ship was normally quite large, one of the largest ships of the day.
With all of its typical trading activity, it was also one of the most important sailboats of the Mediterranean Sea.
Karakas can truly be thought as the predecessors to the three-mast sailboats that developed and thrived until the 19th century.
To recreate the proper 16th century feel, attention was given to every possible detail in the reconstruction process.
At the same time, many aspects of the ship have been adjusted to modern tourism standards.
Even though the Karaka’s foundation is steel, its interior will appear as a beautiful historic artifact.
*KARAKA (KHA-RAH-KHA – a word probably comes from Arabic – karrâka, meaning easy Vessel; English - carrack, French -carraque, Dutch - kraeck, Spanish - carraca, Italian - caracca) is a large sailing vessel used between 14-17th century, was intended for cargo transporta.

Posted by Tomi at 12:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)